A Berbice butcher is now nursing a gunshot wound to his left foot after being ambushed by three masked gunmen at his home early Saturday morning.
Injured is Deochan Bookay of Lot 9 Lancaster Village, Corentyne, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
Reports are that at approximately 04:00h on Saturday morning, Bookay was in his yard and in the process of slaughtering sheep to sell when he noticed a group of men approaching him.
This newspaper was told that three males were dressed in dark clothing and had cloths tied around their faces. They were also brandishing guns which were all pointed in Bookay’s direction.
Guyana Times understands that a confrontation occurred between the butcher and the suspects, during which the gunmen fired shots in Bookay’s direction. Bookay was hit in his left foot and he fell to the ground. Because of the loud commotion, alerted neighbours rushed out as the gun-toting trio quickly made good their escape on foot.
Bookay was subsequently rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where he was admitted for medical attention.
According to a Police source, it is believed that the armed trio did not visit Bookay’s residence to execute a robbery.
“It seems as if there is some bad business deal or something of that nature because they did not demand anything from him or attempt to rob him or his house at any point. It could be that he knew them or at least why they came up to him. They did not kill him and apparently only fired shots after he and them had some kind of confrontation,” the source said.
Meanwhile, investigations into the shooting incident are ongoing while Police are on the hunt for the three perpetrators.
Just two months ago, a cattle farmer was admitted at the New Amsterdam Hospital after being shot twice at his Manchester, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) home.
Glenroy Collins, 27, was shot during a dispute over his cattle rearing in the suspect’s rice field, destroying thousands of dollars of rice. At the time of the incident, the suspect had been arrested by Police, who had been hunting for him; however, they had been unable to locate the weapon.
Earlier this year, several cattle were poisoned as rice farmers retaliated to the destruction of their crop by animals.