Prison escapee shot dead during Joint Services operation at Groete Creek

– allegedly charged at officers with cutlass

Prison escapee and double-murder suspect Akeem Wong was fatally shot by members of the Joint Services on Sunday at Groete Creek Backdam, Essequibo River in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
Wong escaped from the Mazaruni Prison on February 15, 2024, and has been on the run since. He was, however, sighted at Groete Creek Backdam on Sunday by a team of Joint Services members.

Police in a missive stated that upon seeing the ranks, the escapee allegedly emerged from some bushes and charged towards them while wielding a cutlass. He was fired upon and fatally wounded.
The body has been escorted to Bartica Hospital. At the scene, Police found one cutlass, $4700, three SIM cards, 1 flash drive, and memory card, one pair of scissors, four cigarettes, one flashlight with batteries, one fishing hook, CA$100, one cellular phone, and one lighter.
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 since been searching for him.

Chopping
He is suspected to have gruesomely chopped to death David and Elizabeth Gomes on March 8 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, Essequibo River. 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.

Police shooting
Following that incident, a member of the Joint Services was fatally shot by his colleague, a Police Constable, while hunting for Wong several kilometres from the village of Saxacalli.
It was revealed that the cop sustained three gunshot wounds: a graze to the right side of his abdomen; another graze to his right leg; and a wound made by a bullet that entered his abdomen on the left and exited through his right buttock. That was the injury that ultimately claimed his life.
In its initial statement on the shooting, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) had announced that a Police Constable had been placed under close arrest after he had “unintentionally” shot Police Sergeant Alex Vaughn. The two were part of a Police operation mounted to search for prison escapee Wong.
Tragedy struck when the Police Constable, arriving on the scene on a tractor as part of a backup unit, allegedly discharged his firearm “accidentally” upon disembarking, resulting in the Police Sergeant being fatally shot.
Under the directive of acting Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, an investigation into the incident was launched by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), overseen by the Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority. (G9)