Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan has pointed to Tuesday’s fatal shooting of a man by a licensed firearm holder as an example of why there is a need for the review of firearm licences with a view to revoking some of them.
“That is why I said that we will do the checks every year… We got a lot of people who are not mentally sound in this place and they carry arms,” the Public Security Minister told reporters yesterday following the launch of a Citizen Security Strengthening Programme.
“Only last night [Tuesday] a guy with a licensed firearm shoot up somebody reversing in his driveway… This is an extremely sad story. Would not believe that someone, from what I am being told, would just see a car turn into a driveway and he come down like a cowboy and start shooting,” he said.
Earlier this month Ramjattan had said that a number of gun licences were going to be revoked in the upcoming months in keeping with a decision to sift out those who are mentally unstable, those whose licences were issued improperly and those who no longer require firearms.
This was following an incident where a licensed firearm holder shot and injured his wife before killing himself with the weapon at their North Road, Lacytown, Georgetown home.
Seventy-three-year-old Theodore Adams called ‘Totie’, shot his wife Sarojini Warnauth, 42, in her mouth before turning the weapon on himself.
According to reports Adams and Warnauth had been sitting in their verandah relaxing with their daughter and Warnauth’s nephew when an argument ensued. Further reports revealed that Adams suffered from depression and had previously threatened to kill Warnauth. The couple had a history of domestic problems.
Meanwhile, as regards Tuesday’s shooting, police said that they are investigating the murder and attempted murder committed on Colin Perreira, 25 of Lot 213 Barr St, Kitty and Gailann Chacon of Region One which occurred at about 21:10 hrs at Perry Street, Tucville.
“Initial investigations revealed that the deceased who was driving a heavily tinted motor car, with the other victim seated in the front passenger seat, attempted to turn around the vehicle, on the space in front the suspect’s residence; in the process, the suspect who was in his yard, drew his licensed handgun and discharged several rounds at the vehicle, hitting the victims about their bodies,” the statement said.
The victims were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where Perreira was pronounced dead on arrival; Chacon is said to be in a stable condition. The suspect has since been taken into custody, the statement added.
And in April, a playful fight between two friends, one of whom was a licensed firearm holder led to a fatal shooting.
Nafasi Edghill, 39, a businessman of Castello Housing Scheme, Georgetown sustained a single gunshot wound to his abdomen and died at a private hospital while receiving medical attention.
The police in a release had said that the businessman was at Mon Repos when he became involved in a playful scuffle with a friend, a licensed firearm holder and who had the firearm in his hand at the time. A round was reported to have been accidentally discharged and Edghill was struck to his abdomen. Over the years there have been other such cases.
