An aunt of Presidential Guard Winston Cooper, who was found in an unconscious state on Man-dela Avenue with injuries to his head, believes he was attacked by a gang while on his way to work on July 1.
The aunt yesterday told Stabroek News that her conclusion was made based on doctor’s reports and the injuries her nephew sustained.
“It was not an accident, no vehicle didn’t hit him down. He got two big burst on his head, a fractured neck and his arm break…We know it is not an accident,” she told Stabroek News.
Cooper, of Lot 761 East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, has been hospitalised since July 1st and up to yesterday was still unconscious.
According to the aunt, who asked not to be named, on July 1, her nephew was walking to work during the wee hours of the morning. She explained that Cooper would walk daily from home to the Presidential Guard Quarters on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive.
She explained that she would normally walk with her nephew in the mornings. However, on the morning of his discovery, it was raining and so she stayed home.
The aunt added that the family only learnt something was amiss when police from the East La Penitence Station visited their home.
“They come and tell we somebody call from Eve Leary that he was lying on the ground and they went and find he and carry he hospital. We went to the hospital but he couldn’t tell us anything,” she related.
The woman, while speaking to this newspaper registered her disappointment with the quality of work being carried out by the police.
She stated that the police investigating the matter have not provided the family with any update on the attack. She explained that the last update the family received was that ranks were working to enhance surveillance footage.
“They are only calling to see how he is doing… they are not going and see him in the hospital… I keep telling his mother let she go to the Commissioner [Leslie James] or [Khemraj] Ramjattan [Minister of Public Security] and at [President David] Granger office to get some help but she said she is waiting,” the aunt said.
The aunt related that Cooper who grew up with her was considered to be her son and to her knowledge he has always been a peaceful individual.
“Why can’t nobody help me nephew? Why? He don’t get problem with nobody,” the aunt stressed.
The aunt stated that she would like to see some justice served, since her nephew was wrongfully attacked.
The police, in a brief statement on July 1, had said that Cooper, a former Guyana Defence Force officer, was discovered lying in an unconscious condition around 5.30am with injuries to his head. He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he remains hospitalised.
A police source told Stabroek News that investigators are still trying to determine what caused Cooper to sustain serious head wounds and toward this end, they have been working to enhance surveillance footage gathered from around the area.
