Chester Criticizes the Media for False Report

Commissioner of Police Chester Williams is calling out the media for the inaccuracy of a story that was uploaded to social media on Sunday morning in which it was reported that Ryan Cole had been murdered inside his home during the shooting incident.  Cole is critically injured and remains hospitalized at the K.H.M.H.  His family has also taken umbrage with the false report of his passing.  This morning, Carolyn Cole shared her disappointment, followed by ComPol Williams who is demanding more responsibility on the part of the media.

Ryan Cole

Voice of: Carolyn Cole, Mother of Shooting Victim

“The negative is what is hurting us because he is not dead as yet.  We are looking for a hundred, he’s on a fifty-fifty basis, so please, if you want to help, my number is 664-8448.  I do not know if it will be blood or it will be cash, but he needs to take an emergency surgery.  I am only working on Saturday, I only have one day that I work.  So if you all want to help me, help me, but please stop putting my son down.  I need positive, I don’t need negative.  And thank you, my name is Carolyn Cole, my son’s name is Ryan Cole. He is not perfect, he is not an angel.”

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“As media houses, you all have a responsibility of ensuring when you report crime, you report accurately and not speculations. We have had numerous occasions where media houses have prematurely killed people. And we must understand that when we post somebody as being dead, it is far reaching because those persons that you kill prematurely have relatives and friends who read your post. And when they see that it is coming from a reputable media house, it gives more credence to the story and it can cause them harm. And by law, you all can be sued for causing psychiatric harm to people after they have read your post and you cause them to go into some kind of psychiatric issues. We work together. There is nothing wrong to pick up the phone and call Mister Myvett or call Mister Williams or call Hortence – we have a shooting in Martin’s area, is it true the victim succumbed?  It’s a matter of yes or no. if the victim is alive, we are going to tell you yes the victim is alive. And if the victim is dead, we will confirm that the victim is dead and we will say to you, kindly do not publish yet because we need to inform the next of kin first before we put it out there. We cannot operate in a heartless way where we just want to be the first to report somebody dead just to get ratings. We must do better as a society and more so as a responsible media house.”