Dead Police Sergeant: GPF confirms fellow officer’s involvement in accidental fatal shooting

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has officially confirmed that Sergeant Alex Vaughn, who was shot on Tuesday, was a victim of alleged gunfire from a fellow officer during a hunt for prison escapee Akeem Wong near Saxacalli village along the Essequibo River.
Sergeant Vaughn, of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), was part of a Joint Services operation tracking down Wong, the prime suspect in the recent double homicide of 49-year-old David Gomes, and his 75-year-old mother, Elizabeth Gomes, in Saxacalli.

Initial investigations indicate that Vaughn and a team of Joint Services personnel, deployed to the Kertie Creek Backdam in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), were pursuing sightings of Wong in the area. However, tragedy struck when a Police Constable, arriving on the scene on a tractor as part of a backup unit, allegedly discharged his firearm accidentally upon disembarking, resulting in Vaughn being fatally shot.
Under the directive of acting Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, an investigation into the incident has been launched by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), overseen by the Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority.
Following the incident, several members of the Police Force paid visits to the immediate family and relatives of Vaughn, offering condolences and support during this difficult time.
This incident comes in the wake of heightened efforts to capture Wong, who had escaped on February 14 from the Mazaruni Prison in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), where he was serving a 15-year sentence for rape.
Wong, called “Bin Laden”, 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. Law enforcement officials have been searching for him since.

Chopped
David and Elizabeth Gomes were gruesomely chopped to death on March 8 while at their Saxacalli home.
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 reportedly 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. (G9)