Seage John’s friends and family from Rose Place, Edinboro, and the brand-new Lowmans Bay community participated in a demonstration outside Kingstown’s Central Police Station on Friday to express their outrage at his killing.
On January 1, 2023, a police operation resulted in John’s death. In a police report, it was noted that:
“On Sunday, January 1, 2023, members of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) conducted an operation in the Rose Place community. During the operation, a man who was armed with a gun fired shots at the police. The police returned fire, and the gunman was shot in the process. He was transported to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) for medical attention. He was later pronounced dead”.
Seage John killed during armed confrontation with St Vincent Police
On Friday, relatives and friends disputed this account since, in their opinion, the autopsy report the family got presents a different picture.
“They said that he shot back at them; he never shot at them; they never even found a gun on the young man.” “So we are here to protest and question the broken neck that John had according to the autopsy,” one woman claimed.
Sources alleged that John’s autopsy revealed he died from a broken neck rather than a gunshot wound sustained during the shooting with police.
One protester said, “We need answers—his family, his friends—and we demand justice for his death.”
“We are from Rose Place; you heard in the news that there was an incident where it was alleged that police were responsible for the death of Ceja Weekes; the whole of SVG was screaming for justice; however, the moment the headline said “bottom town” (referring to Rose Place), everybody just turned a blind eye because they think is only criminals, gangsters, thieves, and murderers from these areas, no one is questioning the police; all of a sudden, the police word was the only word,” another woman stated.
In August 2022, lawyer Jomo Thomas said the Director of Public Prosecutions, Sejilla McDowall, stated that after a long and exhaustive investigation into the death of Ceja Weekes, her office did not think any criminal liability arises.
St Vincent police meets with family of man killed in police operation
Protesters told the St. Vincent Times that their protest is to bring awareness and seek justice for Seage John.
“We believe in the rule of law; if someone breaks the law, they should be put on trial, but we can’t make things better by killing our sons. We are trying to get the message out there so people can know what’s going on in St Vincent (SVG)”, said a young man among the demonstrators.
On Friday, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Colin John, and other members of the police high command met with the family of the late Seage John.
In the meeting, John provided an update on the investigation’s progress and informed the family that a coroner’s inquest might be called to determine Seage’s death’s circumstances after the inquiry is finished.
The John family voiced various issues with the occurrence during the meeting. The commissioner gave the family his word that the situation would be thoroughly looked into. He also told the family that they may, if they choose, get independent legal counsel on the issue.
