A rel­a­tive of con­vict­ed kid­nap­per Ron­nie Alexan­der is deny­ing that he was killed by po­lice be­cause of in­volve­ment in ex­tor­tion.

Ini­tial re­ports said of­fi­cers of the Cen­tral Di­vi­sion’s Ex­tor­tion Unit were search­ing for Ron­nie Alexan­der, 40, of Laven­tille in the Tabaquite area when a shootout en­sued and he was killed.

Speak­ing with Guardian Me­dia, Alexan­der’s sis­ter said her broth­er moved from Mor­vant three years ago and re­turned to his child­hood home­town of Tabaquite, where he start­ed gar­den­ing. She de­nied he was in­volved in crime.

She al­so said he had one of­fence on his record as at the age of 18, he was placed on a bond for kid­nap­ping af­ter he and three oth­ers were found guilty. She said that since his three-year bond in 2006, Alexan­der has fo­cused on con­struc­tion and oth­er jobs to earn a liv­ing.

Alexan­der, 40, was killed by po­lice short­ly be­fore 6 am at Mot­ta Street, Tabaquite. Po­lice said he opened fire on of­fi­cers af­ter they ex­e­cut­ed a search war­rant.

He was tak­en to the Ch­agua­nas Health Fa­cil­i­ty, where he was pro­nounced dead. Guardian Me­dia will up­date this sto­ry as more in­for­ma­tion comes to hand.