The suspected trunker who was shot several times by the owner of the vehicle he was found sitting in, yesterday said that he was in the area looking for a job and had stopped to admire himself in the vehicle’s mirror.
The man who gave his name as Ali Stephens told this newspaper from his hospital bed at the Georgetown Hospital that he was “in front of the vehicle when a man come up with a gun and fire two shots at me belly”.
Stephens said that he began to run and did not realize that he had been wounded until a guard at a nearby house, told him that he had blood on his shirt. “I stop and talk to de guard woman and de woman tell me `yuh get shoot’”, he said adding that shortly after a black vehicle collected him and took him back to the scene of the shooting.
According to Stephens, the person who shot him along with two others accused him of “troubling a vehicle”.
He said he was later taken to the Prashad Nagar Outpost and then the hospital.
Asked what he was doing in the area the man said that he was there seeking a job. He explained that he would usually walk around looking for work in the construction field and other areas.
Meanwhile, the vehicle owner who is a licensed firearm holder was released on Tuesday night after being questioned by investigators.
Police said in a press release that they are investigating the shooting incident which occurred at about 1000 hours on Tuesday at Premniranjan Place, Prashad Nagar, during which “an unidentified man was shot and injured by a licensed firearm holder”.
Stephens was initially reluctant to reveal his identity to hospital staff and ranks. Later he gave them the name Ali Stephens which is believed to be a fake name.
Investigations, the release said revealed that the man was caught by the licensed firearm holder breaking into his motor vehicle which was parked at Premniranjan Place,
During the confrontation, it is alleged that the man pulled a knife and was shot to his left side by the licensed firearm holder.
An eyewitness had told Stabroek News that she saw when the man jumped into a nearby yard and after spending half an hour there went to the vehicle and started peeping inside.
She said that the man who she described as well dressed, then started ripping the sun visors from the windows. After managing to open the vehicle he entered. The woman said that by this time, she was able to inform the vehicle’s owner who worked at a mining company nearby and when he came he confronted the man.
