Welton Edwards and Sherwin Hamilton, the two men who were shot by a Land of Canaan businessman earlier this week, have denied claims that they were attempting to rob him.
The shooter, Derek Jaisingh, was charged with two counts of attempted murder on Thursday in a Georgetown court, where his lawyer Manoj Narayan stated that the man felt he was about to be robbed and he used his licensed firearm to defend himself. He was subsequently released on a total of $800,000 bail on both charges.
But Edwards, 50, and his nephew, Hamilton, 40, who had been hospitalised after the shooting, said they were not informed of the court hearing where the claims were made by the lawyer.
Hamilton, responding to the claims yesterday, insisted that there was no way that Jaisingh could have thought they were bandits since both he and his uncle were both well-known to him.
Jaisingh, a licensed firearm, is a miner and the proprietor of the Savannah Restaurant at the Land of Canaan Public Road, where the shooting occurred. Edwards is the proprietor of a nearby business.
Hamilton said that on the day in question, he had recently returned from Soesdyke with his family and he heard a loud shout.
He then decided to investigate only to see Jaisingh in an altercation with his nephew, Raymond Hamilton.
He recalled that after seeing this he went out and approached Jaisingh, touch him on his shoulder and asked him what was going on and Jaisingh struck him twice with the gun across his face. Sherwin said he then went to his uncle to inform him about what was happening.
Edwards told this newspaper that after Sherwin had informed him of the situation, he went to investigate. He said he saw Jaisingh standing in the middle of the road with a gun.
“I ask he what happen and next thing the man start shooting at Sherwin. Sherwin then fall at the side of the road. I put my hands up and I continue to ask him what’s wrong and he start fire shots at me. I turn to run and I was shot two times in my back. Right now, a bullet is still lodged in my spine. The doctor said that it’s a fifty-fifty chance to get it removed, so I got a decision to make,” Edwards said.
Sherwin Hamilton was shot eight times, including in the stomach and groin areas.
