Family members of the two robbery suspects who were arrested by police at Leopold Street, Georgetown are debunking the police’s account of the events leading up to the shooting of a cop and one of the alleged bandits.
Police Headquarters had said at around 10:50hrs on Tuesday, a party of policemen responded to an alleged incident of robbery under arms being committed on a 68-year-old man, who was relieved of one artificial hand band and one gold chain by two males, one of whom was armed with a handgun.
However, in the process of arresting the suspects – a 20-year-old and a 24-year-old – a scuffle ensued between the suspects and one of the ranks.
The Police contended that one of the suspects held on to the rank’s service revolver in an attempt to disarm him but the firearm reportedly became dislodged and the policeman was shot in his left thigh. The bandit was also shot to his left thigh. They both were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where they are receiving medical attention.
Police said the second suspect was taken into custody.
However, the relatives of the two suspected bandits had a different story to tell.
Kia Richards, a girlfriend of one of the men, stated that the police visited their home on Tuesday and requested to speak with “Sheldon Profit”. Upon enquiring the reason for their wanting to see him, the police reportedly explained that he was wanted for questioning in connection with a robbery.
“Profit tell the police how he could rob somebody and he just come out he bed?” The Police, she stated, insisted that the young man go to the station.
“So, Sheldon say, ‘Me? I can’t go no way, because y’all see y’all just come and wake me up out me bed. I come out me bedroom!’ and one of them say, ‘Well, we got to search the house. So Sheldon tell them search it. When they search and thing, they tell he, ‘You gon come down and clear your name’. He father then come up and say, ‘If y’all want Sheldon, I name Sheldon (Forde) too, so y’all got to carry both of us,” Richards related.
The father and son went out on the road with the Police when another brother, Tyrese Forde, enquired what was happening.
“So, the brother saying, ‘What going on? what happening hay?’ and they tell he that they arrest Sheldon for a robbery, so the boy said, ‘No! That can’t happen!’ and they rowing and thing. They end up snatching Tyrese.”
This resulted in an argument, which quickly escalated into a scuffle. The police managed to get Sheldon in the vehicle, and made attempts to arrest his brother. Again, a scuffle ensued between Tyrese Forde and the ranks.
“They end up firing shots in the air, and one of the officers – I don’t know if he was nervous or what – is he pull out he gun and like the safety didn’t went on or something, and he mistake and fired a shot, so it end up hitting Tyrese, and end up going through Tyrese foot and knock the Police,” the woman recalled.
The woman is calling for justice to be served, and more so for a proper investigation to be conducted into what actually transpired.
In addition, Nikita Barrow, the girlfriend of the injured civilian, explained that she received a telephone call informing her of the commotion, and without hesitation she went home.
“When I come home, I see me boy on the ground and I see they lift he up and put he in the car, so I said, ‘Man, what y’all do he, y’all shoot he!’ They carry he to the hospital, and when we went there, they said we can’t go in, so we went back to the station.”
She, too, has vented her frustration at the manner in which the Police handled the situation, and called for a full probe into the shooting incident.
