Wounded attacker held

A policeman was shot in his foot yesterday at his Wortmanville home during a scuffle with two fake GPL meter readers one of whom also took a bullet in the melee and was later arrested.

The apprehended bandit was shot twice when rounds were discharged from his weapon during the scuffle with the policeman and he was later caught after residents led police to an abandoned toilet he was hiding in several lots away. Acting on information, police subsequently arrested a second suspect.
Constable Courtney Atkins, 20, of 1010 Norton Street and Cemetery Road with blood streaming down his right foot where he sustained the gunshot, was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital around 11:15 am.

Police said yesterday that they are treating the incident as an armed robbery.
A press release stated that two bandits, one of whom was armed with a handgun and who “posed as meter readers attached to the GPL”, entered the policeman’s home after requesting a drink of water. As they entered the house the rank observed one of them pulling out a firearm and he managed to hold on to him. A scuffle ensued during which rounds were discharged, hitting Atkins and the other bandit who was in the house. Atkins was shot in the foot while the bandit sustained gunshot wounds to the left thigh and left hip.
According to the release after managing to snatch two gold chains with two gold rings from the policeman’s neck the two perpetrators ran out of the house.
The police responded promptly on being informed of the incident and held the injured bandit who was found hiding in an outdoor bathroom in the vicinity. His accomplice managed to escape. The police also recovered the unlicensed .22 pistol used by the men which had been thrown into a nearby drain.

The injured suspect has been admitted a patient under guard at the Georgetown Hospital while Constable Atkins is also receiving medical treatment at the same institution, the release said, adding that investigations have led to the arrest of another man who is suspected to have been involved in the planned armed robbery.

Atkins who is attached to the Impact Unit at the Brickdam Police Station was crying out in pain when Stabroek News saw him outside the x-ray department where he was awaiting further medical attention after being seen by a doctor in the emergency room. The man was surrounded by numerous friends and relatives.

At first he declined to speak when this newspaper approached him but eventually recounted that he was standing on the walkway in front of his home when two men dressed like GPL employees and wearing badges with the company’s name, approached him saying that they were meter readers.

He then accompanied them into his yard and it was there that one of them pulled out a gun and demanded that he open his door. This led to a scuffle during which the man is alleged to have accidentally shot himself in the left foot. During this time, Atkins threw away his house keys and his cellular phone. Atkins said that the gunman then turned his weapon on him and as he lay bleeding on the ground, the two men snatched the gold chain and two rings he was wearing.
Atkins told this newspaper that he never saw the two men before.

The injured gunman who has been identified as a Cummings Park, West Sophia resident was taken to the Georgetown Hospital with two gunshot wounds to his left foot around 2:10 pm. The man told investigators that he sustained the injuries when his weapon accidentally went off.
When Stabroek News visited the man’s residence many were standing around still discussing the incident.
While some residents were insistent that they heard nothing, others said that they heard at least three gunshots but when they looked out they saw no one.

Strange men

One resident recalled that on Monday she saw two strange men bracing against the wall of a shop located besides the policeman’s home. She said that they were dressed like GPL employees with long pants and the heavy duty boots but she did not think much of it. Yesterday morning she saw the same men, with books and pens in their hands.

After committing the robbery and despite being injured the gunmen ran out of the yard and threw the weapon in a gutter on Norton Street before continuing east.
He made it to a derelict structure with an outhouse several lots away and it was there he hid. However as the ranks converged on the area, residents pointed out the hiding spot.
When Stabroek News visited the structure, the grass near it was trampled and there were several spots of blood inside the outhouse.

The abandoned outhouse located in a yard on Norton Street, where the injured gunman was found yesterday.

One woman said that she was unaware of the events until she heard voices. When she looked out she saw the police with a man who was telling the ranks he was not a thief.
The police later escorted him back to the scene.

With tears welling in her eyes, one resident said that Atkins was one of the respected youths in the neighbourhood where he had spent most of his life.

Beware

For some time there have been reports of persons turning up at homes under the pretext of carrying out duties on behalf of the power company but instead turn out to be robbers. As in this latest incident these bandits sport badges and are dressed like GPL employees.
However Acting Public Relations Officer of GPL, Richard Francois said that there are things that residents can look for and demand to see when such persons turn up at their homes.
When contacted yesterday he said that the company’s contracted meters readers wear blue boleros (jackets) with `GPL’ printed on the back.

In addition to this all employees of the company he said wear badges which have a photograph and full name of the holder in addition to an authorized signature from the company.
Francois urged members of the public to look out for these things when people come to their homes saying that they are from GPL.