The police have released the 17-year-old footballer, whose mother had taken him to them after it was alleged that he was a bandit who was fleeing from the police on Tuesday afternoon when a woman was accidentally shot.
Linda Forde, the boy’s mother told Stabroek News that though her son was released he has to return to the station on Monday afternoon after school.
The woman said that her son who is a student of Chase Academy, had missed school for three days after he was detained by the police on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the police officer who allegedly shot the woman, Jean Rodrigues, in the vicinity of the Stabroek market is still on active duty.
This disclosure was made by Acting Commander of ‘A’ Division, Marlon Chapman, who told reporters on Friday that as the investigations into the matter continue, the rank is still conducting his duties. Chapman said the police are awaiting the results of the ballistics testing.
The incident occurred around 4 pm on Tuesday during which Rodrigues, 54, of 35 Crane, West Coast Demerara, was hit in her lower back. She was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
It was previously reported that the mother of eight was hit by a round that was discharged by an armed bandit who was fleeing the police near the Timehri bus park.
However, Rodrigues’s relatives who were present with her when the incident occurred had told Stabroek News that it was the police officer who had fired the shot that hit her.
Meantime, the teen’s mother told this newspaper that while her son was detained, the police took a gunpowder residue test, the results of which have not come back as yet. However, the mother said that she is confident that her son’s test will come back negative, clearing him once and for all of the unfortunate incident.
Forde said that throughout the ordeal she has been praying to God for her son to be released. The woman emphasized that her son was not a criminal and had never been involved in criminal activities. She said eyewitnesses had told her that it was the police who accidentally shot the woman.
Rodrigues has since been released from hospital and is at home slowly recovering. When Stabroek News spoke with her, she said she was still feeling a burning sensation in her back where she was shot. Rodrigues said the pain felt like “hot water” being thrown on her. She said that she went back for additional treatment but the hospital only gave her painkillers. Rodrigues said that she is on bed rest and she plans to return to the hospital for a checkup.
