Pain, rage and raw emotion boiled over this afternoon during the funeral service for 17-year-old Shaquille Grant, who was shot and killed by members of the Guyana Police Force on September 11, 2012.
Scores of persons, including family members, friends, political activists, members of parliament and other mourners, gathered at the Agricola Ball Field to pay their final respects to the slain teen, remembered as a sportsman, disciplined student and obedient son.
Many children dressed in their school clothes sobbed quietly, comforted by their peers as the service went on. But the atmosphere grew intense when Grant’s mother, Shonett Adams, became extremely emotional and began pounding passionately at the closed coffin. This episode began when two mourners were called upon to sing their rendition of “If Tomorrow Never Comes”. Not only was the grieving mother overwhelmed with the touching lyrics, but also other relatives who desperately dashed to the coffin and had to be pulled away.
“Watch how they murder my nephew. He never live to see 18,” an aunt of the dead boy pleaded as she was being carried back to her seat.
A day ahead of his 18th birthday, Grant of Lot 72 ‘BB’ Eccles, East Bank Demerara, was fatally shot at Third Street, Agricola, where Romel Bollers, 19, was also shot. The police force said that ranks opened fire after they were first fired upon and that a gun was later recovered.
The incident has left the community shaken and has grasped the attention of the public and the opposition parties who have been showing a keen interest in the case and playing an integral role in investigations.
