The popular saying 'when it rains, it pours' is all too real for Louise Clarke. Less than a day after she buried a grandson who was killed by the police, another of her grandsons was also killed by the lawmen.

The distraught grandmother told THE STAR that this latest killing was too much for her to handle. "Is yesterday a buried one and now another funeral, me can't take anymore," she said.

The 73-year-old Clarke, said her grandson, Albert 'Al' Clarke, 28, labourer of McCooks Pen, St Catherine, was shot dead by the police about 5 a.m. Sunday. She said she heard a shout of "police police, open up".

She told THE STAR while pointing to his blood on the floor, "When I woke up, a heard the knock on the door and them called out saying police. After the door was open, mi hear them a talk to Al and him sey mi no have no gun and then me only hear pow and him run come hold on pon mi back."

bid to escape

While being physically supported by family members, she said her grandson went on to the veranda in a bid to escape, but slipped and fell. She claims he was shot at point-blank range when he got up. She said the police showed her a gun they claim they took from Al and told her, "See the gun yah, you are a wicked woman; a gunman you have yah, and dis a fi him gun him shot after police."

The dead man's grandfather, however, is adamant that he was innocent and was not a wrongdoer.

Relatives and friends who spoke with THE STAR said Al, who had also attended his cousin's funeral earlier, was at home when he was killed. His cousin, Maurice Jones, had been killed by the police on June 8 near McCooks Pen.

As news of Clarke's death spread throughout the community, residents mounted roadblocks and protested.

But while his family grieve and plan another funeral, the police told THE STAR that a weapon was seized from Al at the time of his death. The Bureau of Special Investigations is looking into the matter.