Unknown persons on Thursday night opened fire on a former Customs and Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) officer while he was driving and the reason behind the attack is unclear.
From all accounts, the man, Antonio Szala of Charlestown, was not wounded during the incident. The shooting occurred around 10:05pm at the Railway Embankment, Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara, police said. Three of four bullets discharged hit the man’s car.
Police said in a press release yesterday that investigations revealed that Szala was proceeding along the roadway in his motor vehicle when he became suspicious of a motor car that was trailing him. He subsequently accosted three men in the car and at that point one of them discharged rounds which struck his vehicle. The men subsequently escaped.
A senior police official told this newspaper that the accounts of the incident are sketchy and an investigation has been launched to ascertain what happened. Szala told investigators that he saw the car trailing him and became suspicious. He said that he allowed that car to pass him, later stopping it to inquire from the occupants why they were following him. It was at this point, according to Szala, that the shooting occurred.
This newspaper was told that two of the bullets pierced the bonnet while the third round is lodged at the front of the car. From the reports this newspaper received, Szala has not handed over his vehicle to investigators.
In May last year, Szala was charged with willingly attempting to pervert the course of justice in the Colin Mack rape trail and he was later released on $75,000 bail. At the time of the charge, he was a criminal investigation officer attached to CANU and the Home Affairs Task Force.
