A burglar was shot dead by police in the early hours of yesterday after he was alleged to have rushed at an officer with an object in his hands.
According to a police release issued after the incident, a police patrol responded to a report of break and enter at a Sophia B Field home around 2am. “Upon arrival at the scene the police called for the man to come out, whereupon the man rushed menacingly towards the police with an object in his hand causing the police to resort to the use of force and he was shot,” the release stated.
The home was unoccupied at the time. According to the police the owner is currently in hospital.
The shot man was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital by the patrol where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The man was still unidentified up to press time. His body was taken to the Lyken Funeral Parlour awaiting identification.
The police said that an ice pick and a screwdriver were recovered from the man’s person.
Meanwhile, the neighbour who called the police said that she and her mother were awoken by the sound of loud barking from the dogs. The woman, who requested not to be named, said that she and some of her relatives with a torchlight in hand went into the yard to investigate.
The woman went on to say that they noticed the door to the one-room wooden home was open, and they went into the house and found a man clad only in shorts hiding under the bed. “When we asked him what he is doing here he didn’t say anything,” she said.
The woman said she called the police and three officers along with several rural constables arrived. The officers surrounded the small house and called out “very loudly and clearly” that the man should come out of the house.
After three calls, the man eventually emerged. According to the neighbour, “It looked like his hands were at his waist,” and that is when an officer fired two shots at the man. When the officers put the man in their vehicle to take him to the hospital he was alive, the woman said.
The shack behind her house has been vacant since February, and she said the area is prone to petty theft even in the daytime. The man she noted is not from the area.
