A man died less than an hour after he was shot execution-style while sitting on the stairs of his home yesterday afternoon and his five-year-old son was injured.
Dead is Christopher Wharton called `Taps’ of Festival City, Georgetown. He sustained three gunshot wounds, one of which hit his abdomen. He died while receiving medical attention at the George-town Public Hospital (GPH), one hour after he was rushed there.
His son, five-year-old Nashan Wharton, a student of St. Christopher Nursery School also sustained one gunshot wound to his foot and was rushed to the said hospital, two hours after the incident since relatives only noticed the wound while putting him to sleep. He was up to press time admitted in a stable condition.
According to reports reaching this newspaper, Christopher had returned home around 4:45 PM yesterday when two men who are known to him rode up on bicycles and fired shots at him while he was seated on his stairs. His son was at the time watching television and ran out of the house after hearing the shots causing one to hit him.
Christopher shouted for his neighbours who immediately rushed to his assistance and took him to the hospital. A villager grabbed Nashan and took him to some relatives who reside in another street.
This newspaper understands that the incident stemmed from a conversation that Christopher had with a group of men earlier yesterday afternoon in North Ruimveldt. They also escaped with his cellular phone.
When Stabroek News visited the scene last evening, a number of villagers gathered at the scene in shock.
One neighbour said she was relaxing in her house when she heard loud explosions which sounded like squibs but later learnt that it was Christopher who had been shot by gunmen. The woman said that based on what she was told the argument continued until the men shot at him.
Family members were unable to say what exactly transpired but said they only learnt of the incident when residents rushed to inform them.
As a result, they hustled to the hospital where Christopher had already been admitted.
A resident said that he was asleep when he heard about six gunshots. He said within seconds, he heard Christopher shouting for him and when he rushed to his verandah he saw two men riding up the street on bicycles.
‘He did shouting they shoot meh, they shoot meh, but we say alright he will be good but I didn’t know this man would dead’, the man related.
Up to late last evening, residents in the area were heard saying that the perpetrators are known to the community and they were hoping that they would be apprehended soon by the police.
