-at least two persons hit
Police have confirmed that rubber bullets were used on Thursday night to disperse crowds on the Agricola public road but had not received reports of persons being injured.
The fracas on the East Bank created a nightmare for commuters to and from the city, as they were made to wait motionless for as long as five hours until the roads were cleared of debris and reopened for traffic. Persons were also robbed both on the East Bank and at the bus park as crowds of persons living on the West Bank and West Coast tried to get boats to cross the Demerara River.
This newspaper caught up on Thursday night with two persons shot with the rubber bullets and spoke to them.
One of the persons hit said she was shot as she entered her yard, in compliance with an order by the Police that persons leave the road and enter their homes. The woman was shot in the back, below the right shoulder.
“I was speaking to the media concerning my seven-day-old nephew who went to hospital [because of the tear smoke]. But while I was proceeding to go where I am living – right on the public road – I am going through the gate and I get shot. I am living there and I get shot right where I am living,” the woman told Stabroek News.
Another person, this time a young man, said that he was hit in the region of the lower leg with a rubber bullet but he did not want to give further details.
Stabroek News’ reporter on the scene heard shots being fired but at the time could not ascertain the source of those shots. There was residue of tear smoke – enough to bring tears to one’s eyes – hours after canisters had been lobbed.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud confirmed to this newspaper yesterday that Police fired rubber bullets but he had not received any reports of anyone being injured as a result. He said that police are maintaining a presence in the community to ensure that there is order. They have also received reports of persons being robbed during the confusion.
On December 6, 2011, a number of persons protesting the results of the November 28, 2011 general elections and calling for independent verification of the Statements of Poll were fired upon with rubber bullets and injured on Hadfield Street. Two senior police ranks, Superintendant of Police Watts and Senior Superintendant Alves were on June 4 jointly arraigned on charges for the shootings.
They were each charged with five counts of unlawfully inflicting grievous bodily harm on former PNCR MP Joan Baveghems, Attorney James Bond, Brigadier (ret’d) Edward Collins, Sonia Johnson and William Thomas Dalgety.
