West New Britain Provincial Police Commander, Superintendent Peter Barkie has called on the People of Cape Gloucester to refrain from any retaliation as they work to ascertain the facts behind the deaths of 3 youth in the area that were alleged to have been killed by police. PPC Barkie said his heartfelt condolences to the families of the young men for the loss of the 3 lives and has stated that police investigations are underway to determine what went wrong that faithful day. Speaking to PNG HAUSBUNG, he explained that it is unfortunate that this type of incident has occurred. “It is a very unfortunate situation. Sometimes things like this can happen. It is very unfortunate, they were brought in because they were suspected of something, in between, something went wrong, and they lost their lives.” It was reported that the 3 lives lost on the 20th of this month were youth that were suspected to have been part of notorious a gang that were responsible for causing terror in the area and were being transported to Cape Gloucester Police Station when along the way, it is stated that they attempted to escape and lost their lives as a result. Superintendent Barkie said he will be doing his part as PPC and will have the matter investigated by the coroner, who is a neutral entity that will be working to establish the cause of death. On the same note, he expressed his sadness and lamented that losing a life is not an easy thing. “My message to my people of Cape Gloucester, firstly I would like to say sorry for the loss of the 3 lives.” “A loss of life cannot be replaced by anything.” “My apologies and sincere condolences to my people.” PPC WNB further urged that the people of WNB to refrain from harbouring criminals and assist police in apprehending suspects.