Local police have sent a reminder to Interpol with respect to an earlier request for information on the alleged shooting to death of a Guyanese born father and son in Venezuelan territory, according to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud.
More than a week has passed since a request was made but to date no information has been provided, Persaud said, when contacted yesterday.
Fifty-two year-old Orlando Fitzgerald and his 17-year-old son Jesse were shot dead on October 3, reportedly by Venezuelan soldiers after they refused to stop at a checkpoint. Reports suggest that when warning shots were fired at their boat by the soldiers, they returned fire. There were reports that two other men were travelling in the boat with the father and son.
Persaud told this newspaper that once the incident does not occur in Guyana, the procedure is for contact to be made through Interpol.
There are reports that the shooting occurred near the border that separates the two countries. Asked how far from the border the duo was shot dead, Persaud said he was unsure. When asked if police have spoken to the family, he said the information used to make the request to Interpol came from the relatives of the men.
While the relatives of the two are saying that the men were robbed and then killed, Guyanese from that area have said the men were escaping after robbing several persons in a spree that started since August. Some of the alleged robbery victims have since come forward to tell their stories
The wife and mother of the two, Marlyn Allick has strenuously denied that they were robbers, arguing that the father and son were being framed. She told Stabroek News that the two were beaten and shot and robbed of a large quantity of gold they had.
