Residents were even more upset because the man in question was not moving when the policeman shot at him, nor was he armed. The man and two others who were with him were arrested and taken away by the police after the officers searched the car they had been travelling in and reportedly came up empty-handed.
The bullet missed the toddler by a few metres, residents said, and they berated the policeman for his “unprofessional attitude” which could have led to serious injuries to the child and others who were in the vicinity at the time.
When contacted yesterday, `A’ Division Commander George Vyphuis said someone else had called him in relation to the same incident, but he had no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding it.
Up to press time last evening, the police had not issued a statement on the incident which has angered residents of the community.
When Stabroek News arrived on the scene, the commotion had ended but residents were standing around talking about it. A resident pointed out the spot on a building where the bullet that was fired had hit.
According to an eyewitness, she was walking along the pavement in a southerly direction around 12.20 pm, when she noticed a silver car turn the corner into Queen Street. Seconds later, a police van “speed around the corner too”.
The eyewitness recalled that the silver car stopped and the driver exited and held up his hands, asking what he had done. At this point, she said, a policeman “dressed in plain clothes” discharged a round at the man.
The same policeman, the eyewitness said, then took his gun and hit the driver behind the head. When she saw this, the eyewitness said, she became afraid and ducked into a nearby building.
Another resident said yesterday that when she first heard the sound, she thought it was a squib. But when she peeped out, she saw a man lying on the road with two policemen standing over him. She heard the man say, ‘man y’all know me. Ah does sell on America Street.’
She said the two other occupants of the silver car were then dragged out and also instructed to lie on the road.
“Dey knock one of dem in he head and we start hollering for murder,” she said, as by this time, a crowd had gathered.
She said the men repeatedly asked the police what they had done and one of officers said they wanted to search the vehicle.
After searching for a while, the police emerged from the car empty-handed and bundled the men into the police van. One of the policemen then got behind the wheel of the silver car, the woman said, and the two vehicles “drive off recklessly and nearly knock down people on the road. Look them had to run into me yard fuh get out de way.”
According to the resident, she started to holler when the policeman hit the man with his gun because she had witnessed the shooting to death of Travis Parks by MMC security guards last April and did not want to see a repetition of that incident.
Yesterday the residents expressed disgust at the police’s attitude as they said children and other persons were on the street at the time and the police took no cognizance of that.
The woman said the police “mean to mek life unhappy fuh we in hey” pointing out that since the incident the police had driven through the street several times.
“We know that dey got dem duty to do but not to that extent man… Dem police treat dem men like dogs. Things like dis does mek children afraid of police,” the upset resident said.
It was not clear whether the men were still in police custody at press time last evening.
