| Hopkins Murderer Charged |
| Thu, January 9, 2025 |
| Yesterday we told you about the ruthless murder of a teenager in Hopkins Village. He was killed by his sister’s boyfriend over a jacket that the assailant, Stephen Flores, had taken from the victim... |
Untitled Document
Yesterday we told you about the ruthless murder of a teenager in Hopkins Village. He was killed by his sister's boyfriend over a jacket that the assailant, Stephen Flores, had taken from the victim, George Brown. Today, 37 year old Flores was charged for that murder.
And we also showed you the video of the aftermath of the incident. Though police was on the scene, it was chaos, with Brown's family throwing rocks, Flores chased them down with a machete, and police firing warning shots into the air while holding the murder weapon gloveless. Today the ComPol said that while the cops showed restraint, they would have been justified in using their weapons.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"The conduct of persons following the murder I saw on the news yesterday the video footages that were shared. It shows that there was absolutely no regards or respect given to the police. This this accused person was already in police custody. And here comes a group of persons throwing missile at him. Again, people have to understand when police have a prisoner in custody."
"The police have charge of that person security. So anything that happens to that person in the charge of the police, then the police becomes liable. And so the police have a duty to secure the safety of any prisoner in their care. So these people who stone the man, whatever, while he was in police custody, it was totally out of order."
"And the accused person, again, to have been armed with a machete, chasing behind these same people. Again, that was also ran. And that also showed poor judgment on the part of the police. So there is there is some things that we need to look at in terms of training and sensitizing our officers in terms of how to react to situations like those."
"And I think for the most part, the officers were reluctant to use their weapons the way they could have because they feared that had they done so, they would have been in trouble. But the young man with them chasing these people, certainly he presented a good opportunity for the police to have been able to shoot him. And likewise, those who were throwing missiles at the suspect while he was in police custody, the police could have used force on them with their weapons, but the police did not."
"So on that respect, I do commend the police for exercising great restraint. But at the same time, I believe that they could have handled the situation much different."
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