A Canadian boat captain is lucky to be alive after he was yesterday beaten, stabbed and shot by two men on Holmes Street who subsequently relieved him of a bag containing valuables.
The taxi bearing the HB number plate series that the men fled in came under fire from a licensed firearm holder who was standing outside a nearby store and it is believed that the driver was wounded in the head.
Up to press time last evening, no arrest had been made.
Christopher Olsen, 40, who sustained a gunshot wound to his right hand and cuts and bruises in his head and about his body, was receiving treatment at the Georgetown Hospital up to last night.
At the hospital, the man said he did not wish to recount the incident as he was yet to give a statement to the police.
His clothing and his skin were bloody. His head and upper left arm were bandaged and he was holding a bottle of saline when he spoke with this newspaper outside the x-ray department.
He said that he is Canadian and worked for the owner of the boat.
According to reports, around 5:20 yesterday afternoon, Olsen was making his way back to Guyana Fertilizer Limited where he and his crew have been staying for the past three months. As he approached Water Street, a burgundy car, stopped and two men came out. The men attempted to take away a bag Olsen was carrying but he put up a fight and it was during this that he was shot and brutalised.
Despite assurances that there would be an increased police presence in sections of the city during the Carifesta period, no law enforcer was around at the time of the incident although that area is in the commercial district.
When Stabroek News arrived on the scene about 20 minutes after the incident, a large number of uniformed and plain clothes ranks had congregated. Many curious employees from the store as well as customers had gathered. This newspaper understands that after the gunshots rang out the doors to a store in the area was immediately closed.
Reports are that three spent shells and a live round from the weapon used by the licensed firearm holder were subsequently recovered by police.
A man told this newspaper that he was at home when he heard a gunshot and when he looked out, he saw a car proceeding north along Water Street at a fast rate.
The driver was slumped over the steering wheel, holding his head. He said that he could not see if others were in the vehicle as the windows were tinted.
Several eyewitnesses said that they heard a gunshot and when they looked they saw Olsen struggling with two men who they assumed had come out of the burgundy car that was parked a few feet away. According to them, the men were trying to get the bag Olsen was carrying.
“A man … started to lick shots at the car when it go to turn onto Water Street”, one eyewitness recounted.
Stabroek News was told that after the incident, with blood gushing out of his hand, Olsen managed to walk the distance to the Guyana Fertilizers Limited building. A police vehicle arrived shortly after and took him to the hospital for treatment.
A blood trail was evident along the muddy road leading to the company.
The licensed firearm holder who wanted to remain unidentified said that he responded after he heard the gunshot with several rounds from his weapon but he could not say if anyone in the vehicle was injured.
However he said he was certain that there were bullet holes on the car.
The man said that the police responded quickly after receiving the report.
A Haitian man who said that he was part of the eight-man crew that worked on Olsen’s boat, the Winiwine Ginger, told Stabroek News that they had been docked at the Guyana Fertilizer Limited Wharf for the last three months.
According to the man several months ago, they sailed from Santa Domingo with a load of fertilizer.
The man informed this newspaper that they are presently preparing to leave the country.
