The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

THE distraught sister of 32-year-old Valentino Seymour, who was killed in a police-involved shooting last month, is struggling to believe the police’s version of events and wants the Coroner’s Court to fast-track the case so her family can get the answers they need.

Seymour, a father of one, and affectionally called “Tino”, was shot by an off-duty officer on February 26 after he was allegedly seen firing a weapon near Palm Beach Street.

Police said the officer identified himself, but Seymour allegedly turned and fired at him, prompting the officer to fear for his life.

The officer then drew his police-issued weapon and shot Seymour, fatally wounding him.

However, Seymour’s sister, Shanequa Thompson, disputes the police’s account, saying she does not believe her brother engaged the officer.

She said she had just dropped her brother home minutes before the shooting after the two had spent the entire day together — a moment she now regrets.

Ms Thompson claimed eyewitnesses told her that Seymour had been walking in the area with a friend when the officer approached and opened fire. 

Ms Thompson claimed she was told that her brother tried to run but was shot in the back multiple times and collapsed. She claimed to have counted around 14 bullet casings on the ground based on photos taken of the scene.

Once rare, adverse findings against police have become more common since inquests resumed from a lengthy pandemic-era delay, and numerous officers have been charged with manslaughter following such findings.

Ms Thompson said her family has been searching for answers but has encountered several hurdles.

According to her, relatives tried to obtain CCTV footage of the incident but were told that police already had it.

“We also have persons that are also fearful that if they do testify, that they would become a target,” she claimed. 

Ms Thompson said she has also been searching for the man who was allegedly with her brother to learn what happened, but despite her best efforts, she hasn’t found him.

She claimed that during a briefing with police, officers couldn’t confirm that another man was with her brother before he was shot. 

“You’re trying to tell me an off-duty police officer shot at two men running and he didn’t put in a report that another person was there,” she asked. 

She described the situation as disheartening, with the family fearing it may take years before they get answers.

“It’s rough to know he had a future ahead of him,” she said. “You know, he was doing things, opening his business, trying to stay focused.”

She said her brother, a carpenter and painter, had made a drastic turnaround from his troubled youth.

She described his death as her “third heartbreak” after losing another brother to gun violence in 2012 and their mother in 2015.

She said her six-year-old nephew has not fully grasped the idea that his father is gone.

She recalled receiving a phone call from him, asking, “Aunty, is that true? My daddy really died? He ain’t with you?”

“He was so sad,” she said. “He hung up on me, and when I called back, he was screaming and crying in the background.”