Shot taxi driver to undergo surgery

The bullet which pierced the abdomen of taxi driver Shem Nicholas, who was robbed in Sophia on Tuesday night by two men, is yet to be removed.

Shem Nicholas
Shem Nicholas

Nicholas, 28, of Lot 361 West Ruimveldt was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hos-pital (GPH) and later admitted to the male Open Ward. However, he was transferred to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) yesterday morning.

According to Nucresia Adonis, the injured man’s sister, emergency surgery was performed on him on Tuesday night. That surgery, she said, was a very sensitive one and has left Nicholas weak. Nicholas is expected to undergo surgery again today to remove the bullet still lodged in his abdomen.

Nicholas’ bowels have been damaged as a result of that wound, Adonis explain-ed, and they have been informed by doctors that the bullet is “moving”.

“When we visited him yesterday he was responding to us when we talked to him but he couldn’t really say much,” Adonis said.

A police press release issued last evening stated that the armed robbery occurred about 9 pm on Joe Singh Road, Sophia. Taxi driver Nicholas, the police said, was shot and robbed by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

Investigations, the police stated, revealed that the two men hired the taxi from the Stabroek Market Car Park to go to Sophia. At Joe Singh Road the bandits requested to stop and as Nicholas did so he was held up at gunpoint.

Nicholas resisted and was shot in his abdomen after which the perpetrators relieved him of his gold chain valued at $90,000 and an undisclosed amount of cash. According to the police, the men then escaped.

The injured man had managed to drive the car a few metres before coming to a halt, after which he was transported to the hospital.

Nicholas’ friend had told Stabroek News he was in the area when he heard about four or five gunshots. He ran to see what had happened and saw that it was his friend who had been shot. Adonis reported that a police officer visited her brother at GPH yesterday. However, Nicholas was too weak to be of much help and only managed to give a few brief answers to the police.

The woman also said that last December her younger brother, Shane Nicholas, was also attacked under similar circumstances. Two men hijacked his car, threw him in the trunk and took him to a secluded spot. However, Shane managed to escape.

“It’s only two brothers I have and is December 1 last year Shane was attacked and not just one day after that date a year later Shem is attacked…I am praying that he’ll be fine,” Adonis said.