TUSCHEN, East Bank Essequibo continues to be plagued by acts of banditry against residents and their properties.

And yesterday lumber yard owner, Andrew Forrester shot dead 25-year-old James Williams, after catching the youth red-handed trespassing in his yard in the wee hours of the morning.
The businessman declined to speak with the Guyana Chronicle about the ordeal, pointing out that his almost three-hour grilling by the police earlier in the day had left him exhausted. However, this publication was told that Forrester had observed the stranger in his yard and had confronted him, only to realize that the intruder had been armed with a crow bar, with which he had begun advancing on the businessman, prompting Forrester to whip out his firearm and discharge several rounds at the intruder, one of which hit Williams in his abdomen. The intruder had then been rushed to the Leonora Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
This publication has been informed that the dead Williams had not been resident in the area, and in fact had no fixed place of abode. He reportedly had last resided at Rosignol, West Coast Berbice, in Region 5.
Residents said the police responded promptly to the report of attempted robbery and subsequent shooting; and yesterday, a senior member of the Tuschen Community Policing Group told this publication that incidents of robbery and break-and entry have been on the increase. The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said there are cases of robbery committed on persons and their property every week, and those acts are often committed by persons not resident in the area.
He said the community used to be patrolled by its community policing group, but that ceased to happen just under four months ago, after the group’s vehicle had been repossessed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Asked the reason for the repossession, the man said the group had been informed that it had to pay a fee for use of the vehicle, and that was something they were not aware of, and are still unclear about the details.
Asked whether the vehicle had been properly cared for and maintained while it had been under the control of the group, the man said the vehicle had never ever been misused. The senior community policing officer told the Chronicle that, just over the holiday weekend, there had been several break-ins in the community, and the police have already arrested several persons for questioning.
It was also noted that several persons are presently before the courts for similar acts which have been committed on properties in the Tushen Housing Scheme area.