PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten (Press Release Prosecutor Office) — The Prosecutor’s Office today, Friday, asked the Court of First Instance of Sint Maarten to find that three police officers acted in lawful self-defence in the fatal shooting of a man in St. Peters on February 13, 2026.
In presenting its position to the court, the Prosecutor’s Office argued that the evidence establishes the facts of the manslaughter charge against each officer. It asked the court to discharge all three from criminal liability (ontslag van alle rechtsvervolging) because, in the prosecution’s assessment, the officers’ use of force was legally justified in the circumstances.
The Prosecutor’s Office asked the court to make two findings: that the evidence proves the acts charged and that the officers’ actions were justified by self-defence. If the court agrees with both findings, the officers would face no criminal penalty for the shooting.
The officers responded to a report of a man carrying a gun in St. Peters. All three fired after the man reached for and took hold of a weapon. He died as a result of the shooting. Forensic examination later established that the weapon he was carrying was an air pistol. The officers did not know at the time that it was an air pistol.
The prosecutor told the court that, particularly with the benefit of hindsight, the officers could have chosen a different approach that would have given them more time and space to respond. However, in assessing criminal liability, the Prosecutor’s Office considered what the officers knew and the threat they reasonably perceived in the split second they were forced to act. It concluded that they had reasonable grounds to believe that firing was necessary to protect themselves and their colleagues.
The prosecutor considered whether the officers could have tried to speak to the man from a distance before approaching him. The prosecutor explained that the fatal outcome made it important to examine how the officers approached the man. Whether the officers used their firearms unlawfully was a separate question that depended on the circumstances they faced when they fired. In assessing the decision to fire, the prosecutor pointed to the report the officers had received, what they saw when they arrived and the man’s reaching for the weapon as they approached.
Ahead of the hearing, the prosecutor met with members of the man’s family and community representatives to hear their concerns and discuss questions about the investigation.
The Prosecutor’s Office recognises the loss suffered by the man’s family and the questions his death has raised in the wider community, including whether the encounter could have ended differently. The prosecutor addressed that question in court by considering both how the officers approached the man and what they reasonably understood about the threat when they fired.
The court will decide the cases against the three officers on November 27, 2026.
