Justice for Jesse - that's what the Commissioner of Police committed to this morning when he went to Santa Familia village. He arrived there at 9:00 am - less than 12 hours after the villagers had burnt tyres and broken bottles on the main village road, striking fear into police that they could be trapped and outnumbered.
But, that didn't happen and the crowd dispersed around 10:00 pm.
Indeed, emotion in the village is raw, and angry - after the cold blooded killing of off duty soldier 29 year old Jesse Escobar - right in front of his wife and young daughter.
And Commissioner Williams went right in there this morning to sympathize and promise that justice they are demanding. 7News was there.
This is the smouldering aftermath of a night of fiery rebellion against the unjustified shooting of one of Santa Familia's own. It is the scene that greets you at the entrance of the village, and it is into this lion's den that commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, willfully entered to meet the angry villagers.
He came with promises of a thorough investigation and justice, a small consolation to the residents protesting at the scene of the crime.
We want justice, we want justice... But those promises were enough for Jessie Escobar's mother, who the commissioner personally spoke with.
Noreen Escobar - Mother of Deceased
"He promised me in front of everybody, he will make justice and I satisfied with that because that is not manslaughter that is murder. And he promised me, I feel good that he will do something because he is the boss. I would never ever forget that what they did my son."
Jules Vasquez
"Explain to me what it's like for you all right now, I know it's sad, but you have the rage but also you have the grief, how do you manage those two things?"
Noreen Escobar
"Well you see right now I feel satisfied that he said he will make justice because that is what I want."
But while so is satisfied, perhaps the greatest victim in this tragedy is Escobar's little daughter, who is now left traumatized.
Noreen Escobar
"The worst thing that I feel because they killed my son in front of my little baby, that hurt me a lot, now my little baby, when she see a police or a BDF, she start to cry because she said, I am afraid of that because you ask her, where's your daddy? The BDF kill my pa, she said, the little girl."
And while the commissioner couldn't promise a murder charge this early in the investigation, he stressed that it is unjustified:
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"I emphasized that point that from what we saw in the video, it is an unjustified shooting. There is nothing that we can do or say to try and justify that and any right thinking person will come to that conclusion so we'll do our part and I understand what the people of the village are calling for, they want justice,and as the principal law enforcement agents in this country, it is our duty to properly investigate to make sure the people get what they are seeking. I'm not going to preempt the DPP's decision and like I said, and you know this well, Mr Vasquez, that once a person claim self defense, the police cannot proceed with charges until after having consulted the DPP so we have to comply with the law before we proceed with the matter. I would look at the comments uttered before the shooting, the actions during the shooting and the comments after the shooting and I'll leave it at that."
But despite the frustration of the villagers and the tension between them and the police, a truce was made. The officers won't arrest those who were burning tires last night, and the villagers will keep their protests peaceful.
Chester Williams
"I did see the videos from what happened last night and yes while it was happening, police wanted to engage and I said to the police no, we're not going to engage these people, people do have the right to descent and even though it wasn't a peaceful descent, we try to understand the pain of the village over what had transpired and so with that we allowed them to express themselves the way they did last night. While yes what they did last night was wrong, we have to be sensitive to how people feel. The village is outrage and not only the village, I think all of us right thinking persons are outraged over what happened and so we have to understand their position and why they did what they did so I'm not going to bring charges to anybody for what happened last night."
But that doesn't include those who burnt down the house of the officer involved, Private Juan Carlos Morales. His home was situation in the middle of nowhere and almost next to the Guatemalan border. Residents drove two miles down a dirt road to set fire to belongings, sparing only his chickens, and this little dog.
Reporter
"Sir how about the burning down of Mr Morales house, the police officer who was involved will any investigation be launched into that matter?"
Chester Williams
"Of course, that is an outright criminal matter, a damage to property and so yes that matter is being investigated and if we find who is responsible then that person certainly will be charged."
And while this was a bold move by the residents of this little village, they aren't to be underestimated, and they're promising even worse if the charge is anything but murder.
And this barrel of rum and juice - with 16 Elephant Foot bottles inside - is the fuel that could start another fire of outrage.
Noreen Escobar
"That will be a next thing that's all. He promised justice okay and if they don't make justice, I don't know, god will make justice."
Jules Vasquez "Justice for you means a murder charge?"
Noreen Escobar "Yeah, murder, murder, I done tell Mr. Chester I want murder because that is a murder, everybody say it."
