The 29-year-old man who was shot on Saturday evening in what seemed to be an execution-style attack has been admitted as a patient of a private hospital while one of the three suspected perpetrators who was shot by police is being treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
According to the police, around 9:10 pm, Kevin Singh, of First Field, South Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, was at Waterloo Street, Georgetown in the company of some other men.
Three males then approached them on motorcycles which bore no number plates and one of the men discharged several rounds at Singh before they made their escape on the bikes.
Plain clothes ranks on a mobile patrol gave chase behind the bikes and during efforts to apprehend the perpetrators; one of the men was shot to his left thigh and hip. He has been identified as 24-year-old Joseph Barker of 5th Street, Alberttown, police said.
A second suspect was also arrested and one of the motor cycles has since been detained while the third person managed to escape. An unlicensed .357 Magnum revolver with four spent shells has been recovered by the police.
When Stabroek News visited the scene of the shooting, residents and patrons recalled hearing a volley of gunfire. One resident said that he was in bed when he heard the first few gunshots, and on looking out saw a motorcycle heading up the street at a fast rate.
While speaking with this newspaper, the man said that the target, who usually hung out at the spot, was sitting on a chair. According to those at the scene, police cornered the shooters a short distance from the scene.
One of the bullets grazed the bonnet of a parked car and bullet holes were evident in the compound of John Lewis Styles.
Barker’s father, Ronald Satamby said that on the night of the incident, his son told him that he was on Waterloo Street when “police start busing shots and he ran and get hit.” The man asked how the police could be shooting behind people.
When contacted yesterday, Satamby told Stabroek News that he had not visited his son at the hospital due to his disappointment considering the circumstances.
He noted that other relatives have been to the hospital and have related that he is in a stable condition.
Efforts made to locate Singh or his relatives proved futile. This is one of the first occasions that police have been able to apprehend someone red-handed in a case of this type. In the past there have been several fatal shootings of this type without the police being able to apprehend the gunmen. Police investigations are in progress.
On June 15, the owner of Pest Co was fatally shot while at a restaurant on Thomas Street. Gunmen on motorbikes carried out the shooting.
