After shootout with police, ‘Goat’ killed in Claxton Bay

A SHOOTOUT between officers of the Southern Division Crime Suppression Unit (CSU) and two men in a car ended with one of the suspects being shot to death and a loaded semi-automatic pistol seized by the police in Claxton Bay yesterday morning. Late yesterday afternoon, the dead man was identified through fingerprints as being Miguel James, 34, aka “Goat,” who was well known by police and who had eight criminal charges pending against him in the lower Courts. He lived at Trainline, Marabella. According to police reports, around 11 am, a team of CSU officers were carrying out a special road-block exercise along the winding roads in Macaulay Lands, Claxton Bay. The officers spotted a white Nissan B14 car with two male occupants coming towards them. When they saw that the car had no licence plates, the officers signalled for the driver to stop. The driver stopped a short distance from the officers, and James, who was seated in the front passenger seat of the car, jumped out of the vehicle, pulled a gun from his waist and opened fire at the police, who dived for cover. Meanwhile, the driver reversed his vehicle and drove off.

The officers later returned fire and James slumped to the ground, having been shot in the stomach and legs. He was placed in a CSU jeep and taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The body was later removed to the mortuary. Moments after the shooting, CSU officers issued an All Points Bulletin (APB) advising all police precincts to be on the lookout for the other suspect who sped off during the shootout. However, up to late yesterday evening, that suspect still remained at large. Officers on the scene of the shooting retrieved a snub-nosed Taurus .25 calibre semi-automatic pistol and several spent shells. Visiting the scene were Snr Supt (South) Desmond Lambert, Supt Keith Farrell and ASP Nimrod (Homicide Bureau).