A late night visit to a friend ended on a sad note for a 38-year-old man after he was shot and badly beaten by four men who questioned his presence in the Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara area before accusing him of being a thief.
Anthony Williams of Little Diamond Squatting area (EBD) who sustained a gunshot wound to the right foot said that he came within inches of losing his life. This newspaper understands that police are yet to arrest the men who fled the scene in two cars.
Police said in a press release that they are investigating an incident that occurred at about 0015 hours yesterday at Providence Public Road, EBD, where Williams was shot and injured.
Investigations have revealed that Williams was walking along the Providence Public road when it is alleged that a group of men drove up in two motor vehicles and began accusing him of being involved in a robbery, the release said.
“During the confrontation he was allegedly shot to his right foot by one of the men who then drove away in the vehicles”.
Williams was later taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre by ranks who arrived some two hours after the incident. He was later referred to the Georgetown Hospital for further medical attention. There the injured foot was X-rayed and dressed before Williams was sent home.
When Stabroek News visited Williams at his home, he was experiencing severe pain and the wound was bleeding. The wounded man said that the doctors told him that the bullet which entered and exited his foot did not cause any major damage. He said that he was told to return every three days to have the dressing changed.
Recounting his ordeal, William who is employed as a mason and cap vendor said that he visited a friend in Bagotstown and left around 2300 hours. The man said that he decided to walk to a nearby bridge located on the Peter’s Hall Public Road to wait for a bus to transport him home.
He said that as he was walking past the Nandy Park sign (Nandy Park is located between Bagotstown and Peter’s Hall), a light blue car with two men inside pulled up alongside him.
Williams said that the men asked him what he was doing in the area and he indicated to them that he was going to catch a bus.
“You is a thief man!”, he recalled the driver of the vehicle saying and he responded by saying “why yuh don’t carry yuh so and so”.
He said that men drove through a nearby corner and in less than two minutes the men returned with two other men who were traveling in a white 212 car.
Williams told Stabroek News that the driver who had questioned him came out of his vehicle and told him “stop, don’t move!” and then pointed a gun at him.
“I seh boy is wha really wrong with you, is wha I do”, he recalled telling the men.
Williams said that the man accused him of stealing from someone and he denied the allegation. The man even discharged a round into the air during the confrontation.
The man then snatched Williams by his shirt but he managed to escape the man’s grasp and started to run after the driver of the other car was instructed to hit him down.
Williams recounted that the men started to run behind him and cornered him in a nearby street.
According to Williams all four men who were armed with guns started to beat him up. “He tell me don’t move nowhere and I tell he man what y’all want me fuh? Carry me at de station”, the wounded man said he told them.
He said that one of the men responded by saying “shut yuh mouth before ah kill yuh”, before pulling his trigger. The gunshot, he said, struck him on his leg.
After being shot, Williams said that he had a scuffle with the men during which he was gun-butted to the head, and then pushed into a nearby gutter.
He said that the men calmly walked away from the scene.
Williams said that because of the injury he was unable to move but managed to pull himself up to the roadway where he met a guard.
He said that he pleaded with the man to help him but a resident was informed about what had transpired and the police were called.
According to Williams, the police arrived a long time after and took him to the hospital.
Williams said he doesn’t know why the men singled him out. He said that he is upset at what happened to him and while he is seeking justice he believes it will never come.
“What gon become of this? Nothing ain’t gon come out of it”, he stressed.
He said that in the future when he visits his friend he will stand on the Bagotstown public road and wait for transportation.
His mother Mena Watson told this newspaper that sometime after 0700 hours a resident who works at the Diamond Hospital informed her that Williams “get knock down” and was at Georgetown Hospital.
She said that when she arrived at the city medical facility, Williams was still receiving treatment.
“As a mother I didn’t feel good when I hear this story. Look how I coulda lose me son”, she said sadly.
