RELATIVES of Jean Rodrigues, who was shot in the lower back after being caught in the crossfire between police and suspected thieves, are not happy with the pace of investigations into the incident and are calling for the police rank involved to be fired.The 54-year-old mother of 10 was accidentally shot on September 20 at the Timehri Bus Park when a traffic rank was chasing a suspected 17-year-old bandit.

The rank, who is a police constable attached to the Brickdam Police Station, has since been removed from active duty after ballistics results found gun-powder residue on his hands. Gun-powder residue was also found on the teen suspect’s hand but he has since been released from police custody.

The rank is maintaining his story that he did not shoot the woman and is blaming the teenager. However, this newspaper had reported that the rank subsequently admitted he fired one shot from his service revolver while chasing the suspect.

From the inception, relatives of the woman had claimed that it was the police constable who shot her and given the results of the ballistics report, they are calling for him to be criminally charged and dismissed from the Guyana Police Force.

Daughter of the victim, Sophia Ramnarain told the Guyana Chronicle that her mother is in tremendous pain and is unable to walk or stand up for a long period of time.

She related that since the incident, there have been constant visits to the hospital for follow up treatment. Ramnarain maintained that the rank needs to be punished for his actions.

A senior police officer told this newspaper that the Force decided to give the traffic rank a weapon because his life was threatened many times.

This newspaper understands that the rank once served in the interior, and was shot once in the line of duty. He was described by his colleagues as a rigid enforcer of traffic rules and regulations.