The Cumming’s Lodge Secondary School guard who was shot in the head by a stray bullet intended for another on September 10 died at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) Friday afternoon and his family is determined to secure justice.
Dead is Michael Woolford, 68, a father of 13 who resided at Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara.
Woolford was hospitalized since the evening of September 10 when he was rushed to the GPH Accident & Emergency Unit (A&EU) after sustaining a single gunshot wound. One of his daughters, Claudia Mohamed had told this newspaper that her father was shot while on duty when someone fired at two men engaged in an altercation. He had his left eye removed after the incident and was scheduled to undergo surgery to remove the bullet lodged in his head. However, doctors were unable to perform the surgery because of his poor health condition and also because he was suffering from high blood pressure and had recently been diagnosed with cancer of the stomach.
The police, in a statement on the shooting, had said two men, one of whom was armed with a cutlass, were involved in an altercation at Industry Crown Dam, East Coast Demerara around 9 pm when a driver stopped, exited his vehicle and discharged several rounds in their direction. One of the bullets struck Woolford, who was on duty at the nearby school. The two men involved in the altercation, Vincent Williams, 35, and Doodnauth, 53, both of Industry Crown Dam, were treated at the GPH. The shooter, meanwhile, fled.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday Morsha Sancho, another daughter of the dead man said following the shock her father’s death had bought to the family circle she is deeply concerned at the way the police have been dealing with the matter. She explained that the Turkeyen Police Station is investigating the shooting but ranks are not cooperating with Woolford’s family at all.
According to her, she visited the police station previously and saw the car bearing a number plate that had been noted by an eyewitness. Based on the information she received the police had arrested the driver, but he was then released on station bail and is now a free man. Apart from this, Sancho said what is more upsetting is that a police officer at the station informed her that her father died as a result of the other sickness he had, and not because of the gunshot wound he sustained. “I want some kind of justice and [am] therefore calling on all the relevant authorities to look into the matter”, said the weeping Sancho. She also noted that she will ensure the shooter faces the full force of the law for the act, although she is fully aware that many matters of this sort went “down the drain.”
This newspaper was also informed that on the day following the incident the suspect visited the scene and was seen picking up what is believed to be a spent shell. Another was also picked up by one of Woolford’s colleagues and was lodged at the police station.
Sancho said she has an appointment to meet with the divisional commander and is hoping that she will receive some satisfaction and that the necessary action will follow.
