Armed Police Officers from the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force on Tuesday raided the home of Former public servant Shermaine Joseph-Barnwell and her husband, Marshall Barnwell, both of whom previously worked in the public service, in what police said was a search for illegal firearms and ammunition.
The operation, carried out while the family — including young children — was at home, has raised questions about police conduct and the handling of search warrants.
Joseph-Barnwell said she had been outside earlier in the day exercising and livestreaming before later sitting in her vehicle with her daughter. While there, she said a police jeep drove past slowly, with officers pointing toward the area where she had just been.
She said the officers did not realise she was inside the vehicle at first and only noticed her moments later before speeding off.
Her husband, Marshall Barnwell, said he became suspicious shortly after when he noticed two police jeeps in the area.
“I see them and tell my wife — that can’t be right. She just see police already,” he said.
Barnwell said the vehicles were carrying heavily armed officers in bulletproof vests with assault rifles, and he immediately questioned their presence.
He referred to the officers as “goofy” and said “they not slick at all” as they moved around the area.
According to Barnwell, one of the police jeeps later parked at the top of a hill near the house before officers ran down and surrounded the property.
Sensing something was wrong, he told his wife to begin livestreaming the incident.
Barnwell said he was not afraid and approached the officers, asking what they were looking for. He said he was told they had a search warrant but claims he was never properly shown the document.
“I ask for the warrant and never see nothing. I tell one of them straight — show me the paper,” he said.
He added that an officer briefly flashed a document but did not allow him to read it.
“That could be anything. That could be the police officers ‘sick leave paper’ for all I know,” Barnwell said.
He described the officers as disorganised and behaving in a confused manner during the search.
“They moving around like they confused… and asking us not to follow them. They need to get their bearings right,” he said.
Barnwell also expressed concern about the presence of armed officers around the couple’s children, saying the situation left them traumatised.
“All them rifles around the children — that traumatising them,” he said, noting that he tried to secure and calm the children while officers moved through the property.
The couple maintain they have committed no offence and say they were left shaken and confused by the incident.
Police at the scene reportedly indicated the operation was part of ongoing efforts to locate illegal firearms and ammunition. However, up to press time, there has been no official word on the outcome of the search or whether anything was found.
The incident has since sparked discussion, particularly around the execution of search warrants and the use of heavily armed officers in residential areas involving families and children.
