A man is critical after he was shot several times by police last evening in what eyewitnesses described as a high speed chase that ended at Thomas Street, Cummingsburg.
A woman was also shot to her right knee by a stray bullet during the incident.
Shane Hinds, 27, of Middle Road, La Penitence, Georgetown, was said to be shot by police more than five times while on a motorcycle. He and shot bystander Yonette Cummings, of 271 Thomas Street, were up to press time receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), where they were both rushed afterwards.
According to the police, around 7pm ranks of a mobile police patrol observed two men on a motor cycle, CG 1755, trailing a motor car along Thomas Street. The police said that they “challenged” the two men, whereupon the driver opened fire with a small arm on the police, who returned fire, hitting Hinds, the pillion rider. The rider escaped on the bike after Hinds was shot, police reported.
An unlicensed Rossi .38 revolver with four matching rounds was found on Hinds, while a Walther .32 pistol with five rounds and a spent shell were also recovered at the scene, police added.
Stabroek News was told by eyewitnesses that Hinds was riding a black motorcycle and was being chased by men in a red and white minibus. According to one man, who had been at a nearby shop, the minibus caught up with the motorcycle and partially blocked him on the roadway and had a brief exchange of words before the passengers exited the vehicle. The witness, who preferred to be unnamed, said that he was convinced that the men in the bus were police officers and said that he heard them ordering Hinds to lie on the ground before he was shot. About seven gunshots were said to have been heard.
Meanwhile, a friend of Cummings said that she had left to go to a shop to purchase a phone card, when the incident occurred. The shooting reportedly occurred in front of Cummings’ home. She was seen at the Accident and Emergency Unit with the bleeding wound.
Eyewitnesses said that the motorcycle was taken away by police and was not driven away by a second man as reported by the police.
Hinds was admitted as a patient under guard at the GPH.
