Cop shot dead during hunt for Mazaruni prison escapee

A member of the Joint Services was fatally shot on Tuesday while hunting for prison escapee Akeem Wong several kilometres from the village of Saxacalli, Essequibo River.
Dead is Sergeant Alex Vaughn.
While the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting remain unclear, Guyana Times understands that Wong remains on the run.

A source told this newspaper that the prison escapee was spotted about four hours’ walk from Saxacalli. This publication understands that Vaughn may have been accidentally shot by a colleague during their pursuit of Wong.
Just days ago, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum related that a team of highly-trained Joint Services ranks was deployed to the locale to recapture the wanted man.
Wong is accused of the brutal murder of 75-year-old Elizabeth Gomes and her son, 49-year-old David Gomes – an incident witnessed by David’s six-year-old son. It was reported that since the family moved to the city, they would return very often to clean their house and surroundings at Saxacalli. However, their routine visit took a sinister turn when an unexpected visitor arrived at their doorstep. Wong, who reportedly escaped from the Mazaruni Prison on February 15, 2024, approached the Gomes residence seeking food and directions. Police have said that Gomes’s six-year-old son related that about 15:00h on the day in question, the suspect visited their home and requested something to eat, while asking for directions. He was given food, and also took a few drinks with the child’s father.
“The child also stated that he later saw the suspect (arm) himself with a cutlass and (deal) his father several chops about his body. His grandmother (Nellie) went to (her son’s) rescue, and she was also dealt several chops about her body,” the Police release has stated.

The Police have said that after committing the act, the suspect attempted to wash down the blood, but in the process, he heard a boat approaching and ran into the nearby bushes, making good his escape. Law enforcement was also told by the child that during the ordeal, the suspect was chopped by his father. The child, the Police said, took his father’s cellular phone and sent a voice note to one of his father’s friends, who in turn contacted the Police. Police investigations have thus far revealed that Wong was seen in the area, and was allegedly the person who committed the murders. Wong, called “Bin Laden”, was convicted of rape. Following his escape, the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) had said that Wong and another inmate, Gilbert Gill, were under the supervision of a prison officer, performing labour duties in a ‘wood bush’ when Wong requested permission to go defecate, and was granted same by the prison officer. About five minutes later, a check was made for Wong, and it was discovered that he had gone missing. An alarm was raised, and law enforcement officials have been searching for him since. Wong was 27 years old when he was convicted in 2020 of raping a 14-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty to the charge, which stated that on June 30, 2017, in the county of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration of the child. A probation report had stated that Wong, a resident of Half Mile, Wismar in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), had been associated with persons of unsavoury character, and had been involved in many delinquent activities. According to the probation officer, Police records showed that Wong was wanted for a murder that occurred in Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini), and he was arrested only in 2018 after a wanted bulletin had been issued for him. The probation officer had informed the court that Wong had told her he had also previously been charged with break-and-enter and robbery, but he claimed those charges had been dismissed. (G10)