A suspected burglar was shot dead by a police rank during a confrontation in the wee hours of yesterday morning.
Police say the burglary suspect, who was not identified up to press time, charged at ranks with a chopper in hand and he was fatally shot as a result. Another suspect was taken into custody.
A police statement on the shooting said police ranks responded to a report of a breakage on a city store at Regent Street, Bourda. On arrival, the police managed to arrest one of the men. However, the statement said another suspect, who was in the process of climbing over the fence to the compound, jumped down and attacked the ranks with a chopper. “The police was forced to resort to the use of force and the suspect was shot to this body, the statement added.
Stabroek News was informed by a police source that the confrontation took place in the vicinity of the Household Plus store, located on Regent Street, between Orange Walk, Bourda and Cummings Street.
When Stabroek News visited the store, officials there said they were unaware of the shooting.
The police source said the security guard on duty at the business place saw a man climbing the fence and summoned the police. Ranks responded and one of the officers confronted the suspected burglar, who nonetheless resisted the police.
According to the source, the policeman discharged a shot which hit the man to his neck. He ran but subsequently fell and was picked up by the police and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The police statement said the unidentified man, who is of African descent, was 5’2” tall and appeared to be in his mid-thirties. His body is at the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary.
