Licensed firearm holder admits discharging rounds at Lusignan golf club

—claimed to have shot at snake

An individual has come forward and admitted to firing shots during a private event at the Lusignan Golf Club on Easter Sunday, police commander of ‘C’ Division Calvin Brutus told this newspaper yesterday.

The police, Brutus said, launched a probe after learning of the shooting on social media. The commander told this newspaper that after a probe was launched, an individual came forward and admitted to the shooting on Saturday. During his statement to the investigators, he said he discharged several rounds at a snake.

While not providing any names, Brutus said it was not the individual who had originally been implicated who has come forward. “That person does not have a firearm licence but he was present. The person who came forward was a licenced firearm holder,” the commander stated.

Brutus told Stabroek News that investigations are still ongoing and when they are finished, a file will be compiled and legal advice will be sought.

He noted that it is not necessary for licensed firearm holders to report to police when they use their firearm.

Executives of the club have denied knowledge of a drunken patron indiscriminately discharging rounds on Easter Sunday during a private event. A source told Stabroek News that the shooting occurred on Easter Sunday between 6:30 pm and 7 pm. 

Paton George, who served as the club’s Vice President, on Sunday resigned with immediate effect, in light of what he said was the executive trying to cover up the incident.

“…I can no longer in good conscience be a part of a committee run amok,” George wrote to members, informing them of his decision.

“The story of the shooting was conveyed to me as fact. Now, in the aftermath, nobody knows anything. That is bad enough, but to further add insult to injury by continuing with business as usual is insulting to the general membership,” George said in his statement to members.

His account made him the first member of the executive to admit to a shooting incident at the club, allegedly by a patron who is a licensed firearm holder.

Reports of a shooting on the lawns of the club surfaced on social media on Wednesday last and President of the Lusignan Golf Club, Aleem Hussain and one of the promoters of a private event that was held on the premises, denied having knowledge of it. According to the information shared, a patron, who was heavily intoxicated, discharged several rounds in the presence of other persons.

The club’s president had disclosed that the police had  visited the club’s premises as part of their probe.

Nonetheless, while speaking to this newspaper on Sunday, he said no official report in writing was made to him or the executives of the club by any member and the police were acting on reports of the shooting on social media.