A mentally ill man is now a patient of the New Amsterdam Hospital after he was shot as he escaped from the lock-ups at the Springlands Police Station on Tuesday night, while being given a drink of water.

During the incident Tyrone Lucius, 22, of Corriverton, Berbice, wounded three ranks who were trying to subdue him and damaged a generator in the process. A press release from the police said that an investigation has been launched into the incident which occurred around 11:30 pm.

According to the police, Lucius was taken into police custody around 1:30 pm on Monday after he was found on a No. 75 Village, Corriverton premises without any reasonable explanation. The police were subsequently informed by a relative of Lucius that he was mentally unstable and efforts were being made to have him admitted to the Psychiatric Hospital at New Amsterdam.

Around 11:30 pm the following day, while in the lock-ups at Springlands Police Station, Lucius began behaving disorderly and later requested a drink of water. While one of the ranks on duty was giving him the water he pushed open the lock-ups door, pushed away the rank and ran into the Enquiries Office where he damaged chairs and a window. Lucius then ran into the compound where he damaged the stand-by generator at the station and attacked police ranks who were making efforts to subdue him.

“These efforts failed during which Constable 18235 Sears was lashed to his body with a piece of wood, Lance Corporal 18458 Fraser was struck to his face with a bottle and Sergeant 10210 Cumberbatch was injured to his right leg”, the release added.

The police later used force to subdue Lucius and this resulted in him being shot and injured. He is under police guard at the New Amsterdam Hospital.