Firearms officers knew Middletown was the “best place to look for perpetrators” after the shooting of Kumi Harford, Supreme Court heard today.Sergeant Raoul Ming of the armed police response unit said he headed to the Middletown area with two colleagues as soon as he'd heard about the shooting in St. Monica's Road over the police radio.Sgt Ming drove a marked police vehicle from police headquarters to Middletown Lane shortly after 5am on December 5, 2009. He told the jury he could smell “a strong sense of smoke” before spotting an orange flame at the back of a blue two-storey apartment complex. Sgt Ming and his colleagues discovered this was a pile of burning clothes.Prosecutors say the clothing belonged to Antonio Myers, 25, who is accused of murdering Mr Harford, 30, a rival 42nd gang member.Sgt Ming told the jury that his colleague Detective Constable Terry Trott put out the fire with a fire extinguisher they had in the car before the three officers worked together to “keep the scene sterile.” He said it was still dark and there was no-one else around, but they remained on the scene until forensic officers arrived at about 7.15am.Sgt Ming said: “It was obvious it was items of clothing burning and it was immediately identifiable that it was a pair of black Nike sneakers, a pair of black utility gloves and a dark coloured jacket.“There was an orange flame perhaps burning about 3ft high and no more than about 3ft wide.“I deemed this burning clothing to be evidence perhaps related to the shooting.”Mr. Myers of Rambling Lane, Pembroke, denies murdering Mr. Harford and possessing a firearm.The trial continues.