A shopkeeper was shot dead on Sunday night at Bone Yard Backdam, Omai during an apparent robbery and the perpetrators are still on the run.
Dead is Errol Bowen, 38, of Lot 97 South Better Hope, East Coast Demerara.
A police statement said Bowen’s body was found with gunshot wounds to the back of his left ear around 11.30 pm. It was subsequently discovered that the shop was ransacked and 2 ounces and 6 pennyweights of gold was missing from the shop, the statement added.
Up to late last evening, arrangements were being made to transport Bowen’s corpse to Georgetown.
At the Better Hope home of the dead man yesterday afternoon, a number of relatives and friends gathered as the news of his death spread.
His distraught sister, Melissa Edghill, told Stabroek News that it was only on Saturday that she spoke with her brother after last seeing him some three weeks ago when he visited Georgetown.
According to Edghill, she was informed by the police at Eve Leary yesterday that from all indications Bowen was shot and killed was during a robbery.
She said she learned of his death around 2 am yesterday, when a man who resides in Better Hope and is known to the family visited her home.
The man also works in Omai but was at the time visiting his family in Georgetown.
Edghill said information from the area indicates that her brother was the only person present at the time of the attack, which is suspected to have occurred after the day’s sales, when he went to the back of the shop to switch off the generator.
She said it was customary for him to do so and it may be a case where he was targeted by individuals who knew his schedule.
The woman added that since her brother was shot once to the palm of his hand, it was also suspected that he may have tried to fight with his attacker/s prior to his death.
Stabroek News understands that after Bowen was shot, he crawled some 100 feet away but subsequently succumbed.
Bowen was described as a very quiet and friendly person by his relatives. He is survived by five siblings.
