Two more eyewitnesses come forward and dispute Police report of seawall shooting deaths

According to Hughes, it is unfortunate that the acting Commissioner of Police who has previously announced his support  for the officers of the Guyana Police Force involved in the incident and his  opinion on the events which occurred on the  15th day of March 2018, "would choose to publicly challenge a citizen who was brave enough to come forward and provide a statement and who he has not had the benefit of interviewing."

Two more eyewitnesses come forward and dispute Police report of seawall shooting deaths

Even as the Guyana Police Force appears to be discrediting the statement provided by a young man who said he was an eyewitness to the Police shooting incident which left three suspected bandits dead, two new eyewitnesses have come forward with their own reports and statements of what took place.

The statements by the two new witnesses also appear to be disputing the Police Force’s report on the incident.

In statements released to the media this afternoon by Attorney Nigel Hughes, the identities of the two new witnesses are withheld.

In one of the statements, one of the new witnesses claimed that they were at the NIS ground, which is much closer to where the shooting took place,than where the first witness said he was.

“Witness #2” said while at the ground they heard loud gunfire and presumed that it was the Police conducting target practice, however, after some girls in the upper floor of the NIS building raised an alarm, they looked across in the direction of the shooting.

“I saw a black car with some plain clothes persons puting a man inside the trunk of the black car. The men who put the man in the car then entered the car and drove further east up the seawall road by the GNS ground. I then heard three more shots. After about fifteen minutes, I saw two police vans drive up the seawall in the direction in which the car had gone”.

The other new witness, in their statement said they were at lunch nearby when they heard rapid gunfire and looked up and saw a dark vehicle parked on the seawall and a male and female sitting on the wall.

“The couple then jumped behind the seawall on the ocean side of the seawall. The rapid gunfire seemed to get closer , then I saw the couple get up from behind the seawall and come over the wall. The male showed the girl that she should move away. She started to run back and forth up the wall. The male started to look in our direction. I then saw the male put his hands in the air and lie down flat on the ground. The gunfire continued.”

The witness added that “then I saw a short man in a burgundy shirt with a bullet proof vest with an automatic weapon in his hand walk up to the man who was lying on the ground. He stood beside him. I also saw other men come up. I then saw two vehicles, a red/burgundy small car and a silvery grey car come and park, blocking my vision of what was really going on. I then heard rapid gunfire again. After a few moments, I saw both the silver and the burgundy grey vehicle move and go behind the dark coloured car. They were driven to that position by two men in bullet proof vests. I then saw five men running east with bullet proof jackets”.

The witness went on to say that the short man in the burgundy shirt and bullet proof vest remained standing over the body then turned his automatic weapon to a group of Brazilian pastors who were on the field at the GNS ground playing football and watching on at the incident.

Both statements from the new witnesses are to be provided to the Police by Attorney Nigel Hughes.

Mr. Hughes in a release this evening also raised concern about the Police Commissioner going before the media today to discredit a witness in the case in the middle of an investigation.

According to Hughes, it is unfortunate that the acting Commissioner of Police who has previously announced his support  for the officers of the Guyana Police Force involved in the incident and his  opinion on the events which occurred on the  15th day of March 2018, “would choose to publicly challenge a citizen who was brave enough to come forward and provide a statement and who he has not had the benefit of interviewing.”

The Attorney said “the absence of confidence which several eyewitness expressed to me and other independent investigators about the ability of the Guyana Police Force to protect their safety when their own officers are the subject of the allegation of murder has been confirmed by the statements of the Commissioner.”

The Police Commissioner at his press conference today said that based on the Police Force’s investigations of the statement provided by the first witness, the man was never on the roof of a building at the softball ground. He said that information came from the man’s supervisor and the contractor.

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