About a week before the fateful shooting that has changed his life, Winston Fraser and his wife were talking about having children.
However, Fraser, one of the two unarmed men shot by police either during or after a car chase on the morning of July 25th, is currently paralysed and doctors have advised that there is a 50% probability that he will die if surgery is attempted to remove the fragments of a warhead lodged near his spine.
“One minute you planning and the next…,” said his wife, Ditra Walters.
Walters has been out of work for several months as Fraser’s injury left him solely dependent on her and his mother to take care of him.
She noted that while he can sit up for a few short seconds, the pains in his back are excruciating. Nevertheless, Walters has faith that Fraser will walk again.
The woman told this newspaper that Christmas is usually a holiday that Fraser looked forward to as he enjoyed the gathering of family members, the preparations of meals and New Year’s.
However, with his injuries, Fraser is not currently capable of doing his normal activities, such as home maintenance, like painting, or even buying Christmas presents for his loved ones.
Walters explained that while she has not fully adjusted to the new situation, she is doing the best she can for her husband. She also disclosed that she will return to work next year to take up the role as the provider for her family.
According to Walters, Fraser has seldom spoken about the shooting and she believes that he is still traumatised by the event.
She further shared that he has nightmares and sometimes tosses and turns, which often leads her to panic and wake him.
When asked how Fraser was coping, the woman stated that he is sometimes depressed, especially since he lost a very good friend in the shooting.
Nevertheless, he was described as a fighter who continues to receive the prayers of his mother.
Walters, however, noted that no officials came to make any sort of enquiries about Fraser’s condition after the shooting or to offer compensation.
Given all that has happened, Walters said she is grateful that her husband is still alive, allowing her to see and hear him.
Meanwhile, Erica Tullaram, a sister of Cecil Sampat, the John Fernandes worker who was the man who was fatally shot, stated that her family will not be celebrating Christmas this year since the thought of not having him around still hurts.
Tullaram told Stabroek News that her family is still in the mourning phase after her brother’s death, which has been compounded by a so far frustrating quest for justice.
Tullaram revealed that Sampat was the light of the family with his pleasant, loving and full of life personality and so they could not imagine a Christmas without him. “It would be the hardest thing we ever have to endure,” she said. “Our Christmas can never be the same without our brother,” she added.
She said that he was known for his warm heart and giving nature, and shared that when he lost his wife to cancer, Sampat then took a young baby and raised him until he was seven years old.
The season had been a favourite holiday for Sampat, whom she would often declare “Well, you know I’m in charge of the grill,” as he made excellent barbequed pork and chicken.
As a custom, she noted, her entire family made it a priority to meet up during the Christmas season since they were not able to meet up often.
Since his passing, Tullaram revealed that she has watched her mother suffer in various ways, as she is filled with pain over the loss of her son and the fact that she has not received justice as yet.
According to the woman, none of the 17 officers who were initially placed on close arrest have admitted to the shooting but she noted that she still hopes justice will prevail.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) recently withdrew a joint murder charge against two police officers who were charged over the shooting of Sampat.
Police constable Troy Munroe and Police Corporal Godwin Thomas were freed of the joint charge, although the DDP has advised that Munroe be charged with the lesser offence of manslaughter. He has since been charged and has been granted his release on bail.
According to information disclosed by the police, at around 1.30 am on Saturday, July 25, three police officers on patrol observed a large gathering at the junction of Agricola Road and the East Bank Highway. The police asked that the crowd disperse, however, at the time the police also witnessed a fight between two men, one of whom whipped out a gun and pointed it in the direction of the other while trying to make his escape in a car bearing registration number PYY 4432.
As a result, the police chased after the vehicle. The pursuit ended at D’Urban Street and Mandela Avenue. There, the first GPF patrol requested that the vehicle’s occupants lie on the ground while the other officers made their way to the scene. The report by the police did not state when or how the men were shot but that two men who were injured were escorted to the hospital by the police. The two injured men nursing gunshot wounds to their backs, were identified as Sampat and Fraser. Fraser suffered a gunshot wound to his upper back, while Sampat, who was said to be a passenger of the car seated at the left side of the backseat, suffered gunshot wounds to his lower back. The other two occupants of the car were 22-year-old Joshua Letlow, of East Ruimveldt, and 23-year-old Seon Greenidge, a block maker. Greenidge was said to be a passenger in the front seat of the car, and also one of the two men who were involved in the altercation at Agricola Road.
