A man is hospitalized at the Georgetown Public Hospital after he was shot in the shoulder by a security guard attached to Noble House Seafoods on Saturday.
Torungo Gulliver called ‘Tobest’, 29, of Anira Street, Queenstown was shot in his right shoulder. The security guard is in custody. Police said in a statement that the incident occurred at about 1:30 on Saturday afternoon at Noble House Seafoods Ltd. Wharf, Eccles, East Bank Demerara. The police said that Gulliver was shot “while he was in a boat below the wharf.”
However, Gulliver said that he and a friend were fishing close to the Noble House complex but outside the “pall-off” in the Demerara River. He explained that the spot where they were is close to a pipe which discharges waste from the company’s fish and shrimp cleaning operations into the river. He said that the “shrimp water” attracts fish and several persons normally go there to set seines to catch the fish.
Gulliver said that he and a friend were fishing when they observed the security guard coming. According to him, this guard has a reputation of firing shots at persons who go to fish at that particular spot. “When we see he, we start go away cos we know what he does deh pon,” Gulliver said. He said that another man had previously lodged a report against the guard at the Ruimveldt Police Station after he fired shots at the man’s boat.
“The first shot he fire catch me on meh shoulder,” Gulliver said. He said that he fell into the water but managed to hold on to a rope in the boat. His friend, meantime, he said, crouched low in the boat and with no one steering it, the vessel went under the wharf. Gulliver said that the guard claimed that he only fired two shots but it was about seven shots that were discharged. He said that after regaining control of the boat, they went to the koker at the flour-mill where he was placed into a taxi and taken to the hospital.
Gulliver said that the guard claimed that he was on a trawler and he was adamant that this was not the case. “When we see he, we does go away cos he does shoot like he head ain’t good,” he said. Gulliver said that his employment at the ice-house is not regular and sometimes he goes to the spot to catch fish to supplement his income. Some persons catch the fish for bait while others sell their catch, he explained. He said that they were outside of the “pall-off” when he was shot.
The wounded man said that his shoulder is broken and the bullet is still lodged inside. He said that some action should be taken against the guard and was concerned about how he was going to support his family, including two children since he cannot work at the moment. Police are continuing their investigations into the incident.
