A 23-year-old man is nursing a gunshot wound to the upper thigh after he walked into a gun trap on Thursday night on the bank of the Tapakuma Lake, Essequibo Coast.

When the police visited the scene yesterday morning the gun had been removed but investigations are continuing.

The injured man, Emanuel Willams of Supenaam, is currently a patient of the Suddie Hospital and his condition is listed as stable.

Up to press time last evening police on the Essequibo Coast had not detained anyone in relation to the incident.

A senior police source said that around 22:00 hrs on Thursday, Williams was fishing in the lake with a brother and a friend in a small boat, when he experienced a call of nature. The man, the source said, made his way to shore and was walking in an area about 12 feet from the bank he heard a loud explosion followed by a burning sensation in his left thigh. He was subsequently taken to the hospital and admitted.

Stabroek News was told that when the police turned up at the scene yesterday morning, the gun was missing and all that remained of the trap was the padding and a piece of string.

The lake is surrounded with thick bush and persons would set traps close to its banks to catch wild animals which go there to drink water. Police investigations are continuing.