KINGSTON, Jamaica— One policeman from the now disbanded Mobile Reserve Unit was found guilty of unlawful wounding while four of his former colleagues were freed of all charges when they appeared in the Corporate Area Parish Court on Thursday in relation to a 2016 shooting incident that injured a teen.

Corporal Kirk Haye was convicted based on circumstantial evidence as a spent casing found at the scene was traced back to his weapon, but was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice and misconduct in a public office. His former colleagues, constables Shawn Abrahams, Damion Gillespie, Warren Ramsay, and Archibald Wright were found not guilty on all charges.

The matter arose from a shooting incident of 13-year-old Zoey McKoy, a student of The Covent of Mercy Academy on June 30, 2016. The case was prosecuted by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM).

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Allegations were that all five policemen were part of a team that sought to intercept an illegal taxi in downtown Kingston, in which McKoy was a passenger.

During the incident, eyewitnesses testified that one member of the police party fired upon the persons in the taxi.

It was alleged that after the incident, the officers sought to conceal their involvement and had refused to comply with the request of the INDECOM investigators.

The five accused denied the allegations. It was submitted, through their attorneys, Peter Champagnie QC, Linda Wright, and Althea Grant, that there was insufficient evidence to ground the charges.

In handing down her verdict today, Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell found the cops not guilty of the offences.

She, however, found Corporal Haye guilty of unlawful wounding based on circumstantial evidence as a spent casing found at the scene was traced back to his weapon.

Haye is to return to court on March 30, 2022, for sentencing.