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Clyde “Bug” Norford

A Kittitian Man  was shot and Killed by a Police Officer in St. Thomas on Saturday April 26.

According to reports Officers responding to a report of a man carrying a weapon and  shot and killed a man identified as 31-year-old Kittitian Clyde Norford. The incident took place at approximately 12:21 a.m. in the vicinity of Fort Christian in St.Thomas USVI. According to the preliminary investigation, officers received information that Norford was armed with a firearm. At some point during their interaction with Norford, a shot was fired, resulting in Norford’s death on the scene. A firearm was recovered on his person.

A witness on the scene told the St.Thomas media that Norford had refused to obey the officers’ instruction and had “challenged” them before the shot was fired.

Parallel investigations have been initiated by the Virgin Island Major Crimes Unit and the Internal Affairs and Applicant Screening Bureau. Detectives from both units are seeking the community’s assistance in providing any information they may have regarding the shooting.

VI Police Commissioner Rodney F. Querrard Sr. said the proliferation of illegal firearms is in part to blame for such incidents as Saturday’s shooting.

He told the VI Source News “We are finding it more common for individuals to be in possession of illegal firearms when they are confronted,” the commissioner said. “Officers are being challenged, as we have seen in recent weeks. The shooting of a police sergeant on St. Croix just a week or so ago [April 19], and the reported shots fired at officers discharging their duties over the recent weeks shows the complete disrespect and disregard for authority by some living among us. This will not deter law enforcement personnel from doing their jobs as they are trained to do. We will continue to protect life and property with utmost professionalism, the way we are trained to do. We as a community must stand firm against this kind of disrespect for law abiding citizens and law enforcement officers.”

 

Norford aka “BUG” has had a few run-ins with the law in his home country of St.Kitts. In 2007 he  was charged with wounding with intent after an altercation at the Cockle Shell Beach on the South East Peninsula of St.Kitts.

He was also one of six men arrested and charged for the murder of a man whose lifeless body was found in a popular tourist area called Black Rocks in  2008. He was however subsequently released in that matter.

That trial is is still ongoing in St.Kitts and reports are that Norford was initially listed as a star witness for the prosecution.