Shot Venezuelan soldier returns home for treatment
– attack stemmed from interception of boat with ganja
The Venezuelan soldier who was shot and injured by two of his countrymen on Saturday within Guyana’s border has returned to his country for further treatment.
The injured man, who has been identified as 28-year-old Lieutenant Edmundo Luis Berti Garcia, had requested to return home, the Police said on Sunday.
“While receiving medical attention at the [Mabaruma Regional] Hospital, the victim requested to be taken back to Venezuela for further treatment. This was facilitated by a team of Police and Guyana Defence Force ranks who took him to the Guyana-Venezuela border and handed him over to another officer of the Venezuelan National Guard,” a statement from the Guyana Police Force on Sunday detailed.
The injured Venezuelan soldier being handed over to the Venezuelan National Guard
Lieutenant Garcia was shot sometime around 14:00h at Imbotero, North-West District, within the vicinity of the Guyana-Venezuela border by two Venezuelan nationals.
It was initially reported that the two suspects and the victim had a previous misunderstanding which resulted in an altercation on Saturday. During that confrontation, the suspects known as “Freddy” and “Kendell” shot the victim twice about his body before escaping over the border into Venezuela after being pursued by ranks of the Guyana Police Force.
However, in an update on Sunday, the Police said further investigations revealed that on April 19, 2021, Lieutenant Garcia had intercepted a boat in which a quantity of cannabis sativa (marijuana) was found. The narcotic was seized and the two occupants, who are the suspects in Saturday’s shooting incident, were subsequently released.
On Saturday, the Venezuelan Lieutenant reportedly crossed the border into Guyana at Imbotero during which he was confronted by the suspects, who were each armed with a firearm. They opened fire, hitting him to his body.
Lieutenant Garcia was assisted out of the river by public-spirited persons and then taken to the Mabaruma Regional Hospital by Police ranks stationed at Imbotero, where he was listed as stable before being escorted back to his home country.
