A suspect in last Wednesday’s robbery-murder at the Cool Square Bar, which left an overseas-based Guyanese dead, has been arrested and is to be charged today, according to police.

Rawle Harding

Police officials have confirmed that a man was taken into custody on Monday and in a statement last evening informed that he was identified after intensive investigations as one of the perpetrators and is to be charged today.

The arrest may have resulted from images that were left on security cameras set up inside the business. The cameras captured the entire robbery, which lasted about five minutes. The face of one of the two gunmen was visible in the footage. Canada-based Guyanese Rawle Harding was shot in the chest after he resisted one of the gunmen.

The surveillance camera footage showed when the two bandits took seats at the bar and ordered drinks. Harding, seated two chairs down, was flanked by a man and a woman. Stabroek News was told that as the men walked in “their eyes were all over the place” before they took their seats. Before finishing their beverages, one of the gunmen pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the Harding. Harding, who had recently suffered an injury to his foot, stood up, held on to the gunman and was shot. The video footage showed the gunman with his weapon in hand searching Harding’s pockets before jumping over the bar counter and emptying the cash register. The second gunman was clad in a black t-shirt and wore a white cap; his face was obscured.

After the gunmen left, Harding was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital, where he succumbed while receiving medical treatment. He will be buried on Saturday.