The man who is alleged to have shot and killed Festival City resident, Christopher Wharton called `Taps’ on Wednesday was arrested along the East Bank corridor in a mini bus which was bound for Linden yesterday afternoon, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum has confirmed.
Police sources have also said that based on information gathered so far, the brazen execution-style killing was drug-related as it stemmed from marijuana which was credited from the uncle of the man in custody by Wharton.
Blanhum said that police received information that the suspect had boarded a mini bus at the Linden bus park during the afternoon hours and ranks quickly set up roadblocks. The man was later found sitting in a bus in the vicinity of Diamond.
Blanhum praised the ranks for their quick response to the information they had received.
The suspect’s uncle remains at large.
The dead man’s family members have claimed that Wharton was killed following an argument over the purchase of a juice. However a police official yesterday told Stabroek News a different story.
The police official said that the information investigators have is that recently Wharton had taken some marijuana on credit from the uncle of the shooter. The official said that on Wednesday the man saw Wharton and asked him for the money he was owed and this resulted in a heated argument.
Wharton sustained three gunshot wounds, one of which hit his abdomen. He died while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), one hour after he was rushed there.
The shooting would have occurred just after 5 pm and the argument about 20 minutes prior to that.
During the shooting his five-year-old son, 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.
Stabroek News was later told that the bullet entered the child’s foot and exited. Relatives gathered at his bedside yesterday said that he was in a stable condition and was being tended to by the doctor.
Meanwhile, Stabroek News was able to view footage of the shooting which was captured by a nearby CCTV camera. Stabroek News was told that investigators were working to acquire the footage which would be of great use to the case.
At 5:06 pm, two men, both clad in t-shirts and three quarter pants rode up on bicycles. One of them parked his bicycle and the other dropped his onto the grass. They both proceeded to the stairs which leads to Wharton’s front doors.
The footage shows then both walking up the stairs and later one jumping from the top. It would appear that this person was pushed off of the landing of the staircase by Wharton. When the man who was pushed off is seen next, he has a gun in his hand and it was pointed at Wharton.
The man still holding the gun then walked back up the stairs and later he and his accomplice are seen down the stairs. It was at this point that the man fired his weapon at Wharton who was coming down the staircase. Wharton fell to the ground and the gunman stood over him and fired several times as the accomplice walked back to his bicycle. The gunman then got back onto his bicycle and he rode off.
Within seconds, Wharton’s son is seen coming down the stairs. He was later led away from the scene by a man.
Meanwhile, a relative said that they have received information that Wharton and a man had a problem over a juice. The woman said that Wharton had asked the man to purchase him the drink and the man became hostile telling Wharton to come out of his face since he had no money to buy any juice.
The relative said that they have no information where this confrontation took place but was told that it happened at least 15 minutes before the shooting.
She said that they were told that after this Wharton left the area and went home with his son. It would have been shortly after his arrival there that the two men came and while sitting on stairs, he was approached and shot.
She said that before Wharton died, he called the names of his killers but she could not say if this information has been passed on to the police.
She said that the father and son had been living at the house for several years.
“We are looking for justice for we family because who know Taps…he might have his ways and so but he didn’t deserve to die like this”, she stressed.
