Woman shot dead while checking on commotion outside house

…Police issue wanted bulletin for suspect

A West Ruimveldt, Georgetown woman was shot dead in the wee hours of Friday, after venturing outside to check on a commotion in front of her house.

Dead is 59-year-old Florence Ford of 24 Front Road, West Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
Reports are the incident occurred at approximately 01:30h a short distance away from where she resided. After hearing the sounds of a distant quarrel in the neighbourhood, the woman left her house to check on what was happening, but shots rang out and she was shot once in the eye.

The now dead woman’s granddaughter, Nicola Castello told Guyana

Times that she lived with her husband while her daughter lived on the same property in another house.
Around 23:30h on Thursday, the family reportedly heard loud noises and voices coming from the street. There, two neighbours – Brian Wiltshire and Timothy Evans – were engaged in a heated argument during which they armed themselves with cutlasses; one of the men also had a gun.
According to Castello, other men from the community also ventured out of their houses to witness what was transpiring.
The commotion continued for some time, but relatives were unaware that Ford had opened the gate and gone outside. Castello said she stayed inside and the situation escalated when four consecutive shots rang out from a loaded firearm.
“We heard a scuffle, but we didn’t get up to see what was going on and then after 12, we hear it again, but we still didn’t get up.  I said I’m not going outside, because I don’t know what’s going on. It was like somebody chasing somebody and we still didn’t get up,” she related.
But as the shots were discharged, family members became alarmed.
“Then after, we hear a banging by the zinc and we got up, open the door and we see like some boys, some had cutlass… and one of the guys had a gun. Everybody else who had cutlasses start scatter,” the granddaughter recalled.
“One man was outside by the gate on a bicycle. He and the one with the gun had an altercation and then he start firing shots. The first shot hit the man cutlass and he fire three shots after. I didn’t know my grandmother got shot until I hear my aunt say ‘you shot my mom’. She screamed out. Then when I hear my grandfather screaming, then I run over and saw the blood and everything.”
As Ford fell to the ground, her daughter rushed outside to her aid. The elderly woman was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she succumbed a few hours later about 06:00h. Wiltshire was also shot — once to the chest and was currently receiving medical attention in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Meanwhile, the Police on Friday evening issued a wanted bulletin for Timothy Evans for questioning in relation to the murder of Ford.
He is 18 years old and his last known address is Lot 67 West Ruimveldt Front, Georgetown. Anyone with information that would lead to the arrest of the wanted man is asked to contact the nearest police station on 911.