EPS Officer Arrested for Murder, Makes First Court Appearance

The Executive Protection Service (EPS) officer, Patrick Kollie, charged for shooting to death a civilian Valentine Johnson made his first appearance on July 6, at the Monrovia City Court to face his murder charge.

Officer Kollie was being held in custody at the headquarters of the Liberian National Police but, on Wednesday, he was moved into the custody of the  Monrovia Central Prison.

Kollie, 27, is a resident of the Police Academy Community and an employee of the Executive Protective Service (EPS), specifically assigned to the security detail of National Port Authority Managing Director, Bill Twehway. 

According to the court document, defendant Kollie admitted discharging a firearm and said that he was attacked by a group of thugs, who wanted to disarm him, and in the process, his firearm went off or got discharged, thereby hitting a civilian who was riding on a motorbike. 

A post-mortem examination revealed the victim, Johnson, had died of injuries to his left eye. The court documents further alleged that the bullet from the defendant  Kollie assigned 9MM (9-millimeter) Norinco Pistol hit the deceased (Johnson) above the left eye who was riding on an approaching motorbike that killed him instantly on July 4.

The court records alleged that after the shooting incident, defendant Kollie immediately got in his White Hyundai Sedan vehicle and fled the scene in total disregard

to the existence of human life. The record further claimed that the defendant was not on official duty, nor was he around his assigned vicinity, but was on his way to Police Academy Community.

When the defendant reached the area, he allegedly came across some criminals who tried to molest him by impeding his movement, the court documents quoted the defendant. The document claimed that, while an argument ensued between the defendant and the alleged criminals, it was when defendant Kollie went into his parked vehicle and took his assigned 9mm Norinco Pistol with serial number LR/EPS/4097307-67.

As soon as the criminals realized that the defendant had an arm, they took off to their heel and passed by an approaching motorbike, the court record alleged.

The document further claimed that when the alleged criminals passed by the motorbike, defendant Kollie fired a round behind the criminals thus hitting the deceased above his left eye and exiting behind his head leaving him unconscious and subsequently succumbing to death.

“After the defendant realized that he had hit the wrong person, he (defendant Kollie) immediately got into his vehicle and speedily left the crime scene,” the record alleged.