School of the Nations Principal, Dr Brian O’Toole said that he is dissatisfied with the slothfulness of the Guyana Police Force into the investigation regarding his shooting.
School of the Nations Principal, Dr Brian O’Toole
O’Toole said that 11 weeks have since elapsed since two letters were dispatched to Police Commissioner Leslie James with information regarding the incident and he has not received a response.
Speaking with Guyana Times, the principal said that it is worrisome that the contents of the letters given to a sergeant (name withheld) and the Police Commissioner were leaked to the media.
O’Toole described the situation as “disgraceful” and pointed to the fact that he had a few months ago received one of the highest national awards by President David Granger and this is the way he is now being treated.
He said that after making a public statement saying that the person who made threats to him prior to the shooting was flown out of Guyana, two detectives visited him and requested a statement.
Police Commissioner Leslie James
During the 90-minute meeting, O’Toole said the detectives asked that he respond to media reports that he knew who his shooter was.
“I did say I knew the person that made the threats. He posted that he was going to blow up the school. There is no question that he was the one and he begged for immunity and promised to cooperate and give all information and was subsequently flown out of the country,” O’Toole said.
Meanwhile, he noted that he has been interviewed by several media outlets in England, the United States and the Caribbean, who were all appalled at the pace and status of the investigations here. He explained that as a result of the shooting, which was highly publicised in local and international media outlets, overseas-based Guyanese, as well as foreigners, are now questioning the state of Guyana with respect to crime.
Crime Chief Lyndon Alves on Wednesday called on the Principal of School of the Nations, Dr Brian O’Toole, to provide the police with the identity of the shooter.
On Wednesday, the Crime Chief told Guyana Times that there were no new leads into the investigations and no new person or persons of interest as to who may have perpetrated this act.
According to O’Toole, the lack of prosecution and delay in justice is due to the fact that the parents of the teen flew their son out of the country less than 24 hours after he admitted to being involved in the threats.
On Thursday last, at the British High Commissioner’s residence in Georgetown, O’Toole stated that regardless of the professions of parents, they should not allow their children to pursue the wrong path and engage in such illegalities.
On January 27, O’Toole was shot three times as he was returning to his Bel Air, Georgetown residence, hours after an emergency meeting with parents and guardians about violent threats on social media to injure students and teachers of that school.
