A policeman was stabbed to death yesterday afternoon and two others were injured while they were in the process of arresting a man who was wanted in connection with a rape allegation.
Dead is Sergeant 16934 Linden Leonard La Rose, who was stationed at the Matthews Ridge Police Station in the north west.
The incident occurred around 17:30 hours yesterday at Hole, Matthews Ridge, Region One.
The ranks were all taken to the Matthews Ridge Hospital where La Rose succumbed to his injuries and police constables Lewis and Schultz were treated and sent away. The suspect who was identified as Dennis Marks of Wauna Creek, North was shot to his upper left leg by a constable who was at the time armed with a firearm.
The police in a press release last night said the incident occurred when the trio who are all stationed at Matthews Ridge, North West District, went to arrest Marks who was wanted pending investigations into a report of rape.
It was during this process that Marks, who was armed with a knife, attacked the ranks stabbing Sergeant La Rose to his neck and two other ranks to their chest and right hand, respectively.
Constable Shultz who was stabbed to the side of his chest has been admitted to hospital while Constable Lewis was treated and sent away. The other rank who was identified as Constable Yearwood escaped unharmed.
Reports gathered by Stabroek News revealed that the ranks were all on duty when they received information about Marks being at Hole, Matthews Ridge. As a result, they proceeded to the location and it was whilst in the process of arresting the suspect he whipped out a knife from his side and attacked and stabbed them.
This newspaper understands that the suspect was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. Efforts to contact the deceased’s family proved futile last night. He celebrated his birthday just last month.
Investigations into the matter are ongoing.
In September, last year Police Constable Antonio Dawson, 27, was fatally wounded while trying to arrest a man who had kept him and other ranks at bay after they made attempts to subdue him near the Gafoors Complex at Houston, East Bank Demerara.
The police in a statement had said that the fatal encounter began on September 18 around 9:45am when police ranks on a marine patrol in the Demerara River acted on information and went to the Houston wharf, where they spotted the man acting in a suspicious manner.
The ranks subsequently approached him and attempted to conduct a search but he resisted and assaulted one of them. He then proceeded to an area in the vicinity of the Gafoors Complex, where he was approached by ranks of a mobile police patrol, which had been called to give assistance.
Police said during efforts to detain him, the man pulled out a knife and stabbed Dawson to his neck, chest, and abdomen. The man then stabbed himself about his body and slit his own throat.
Dawson was subsequently rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he eventually succumbed while receiving treatment. His assailant was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
This incident had raised concerns about police operational protocols when approaching suspects who could be considered armed and dangerous.
