–shooter calls to apologize
–relatives attempt to mislead investigators
THIRTY-SEVEN year-old Abiola Eadie and her 20-year-old son Martin Baker, both of 50 Middle Street, Mc Doom, Greater Georgetown, were up to press time patients at the Georgetown Public Hospital nursing gunshot wounds to their bodies. They were shot by a neighbour whose name was given as Jessie, and who lives across the road from where they reside.
The Guyana Chronicle was informed that Abiola was shot in the head, while her son was shot in the chest. Yesterday, the woman was taken to the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital, while her son was forced to remain a bit longer in the accident and emergency unit, receiving oxygen after he began having difficulty breathing.
The woman’s cousin, who lives on the upper flat of the house which Abiola and her children share, told this publication at the GPHC that she was grazed by a bullet. She said that she had just placed her daughter in the house, and was standing beside Abiola while she and her assailant were arguing. She said that Jessie pointed the gun in the direction of Abiola and fired. He continued to fire, and she raised her arm reflexively and was grazed by the bullet. She is of the view that had she not raised her arm, she would have been hit in the stomach.
This publication was informed that the assailant Jessie, minutes after he went into hiding, placed several telephone calls to family members expressing regret for what he had did.
Her only name given as Pamela, Abiola’s mother said she was still trying to understand how her daughter’s neighbour could have mustered the courage to shoot her. She lamented that despite the man being a bother to many in the community, her family still holds him as someone they can talk to and make light jokes with.
Residents in the area told the Guyana Chronicle that Abiola’s son Martin has two “game cock” fowls which he takes to challenge other fowls in the area, and even out of the village. One of the “cocks” bears a slight resemblance to one of the fowls owned by Jessie, who rears chickens. According to residents, just before the shooting, Jessie and the 20-year-old Martin were arguing over the fowls after Jessie had accused the young man of putting his “game cock” to fight with his ordinary fowls. The residents said that after hearing the commotion between her son and Jessie, Abiola, who was about to take a bath, rushed outside and enquired what the commotion was about. Upon hearing the allegations made against her son by the man and his female companion, Abiola called Martin to respond, and he informed her that the allegations against him were false. It was at that point that the argument escalated and shots were fired.
One woman told this publication that she lives in the second house on a lot with two houses. She said that she only heard one loud noise that sounded like squibs. She said that when she came to the front of the yard, she saw a woman lying in a pool of blood on the road in front of her assailant’s gap.
Another resident said that Jessie has been living in the area for the past year and ever since he and his family moved to the area, they have made the community a war zone. The resident said that almost every week there is a confrontation between the man and other residents, and sometimes his companion gets involved in conflicts with residents of the community.
Residents of the community have expressed shock at the man’s actions, as they try to comprehend what could be so special about a fowl to make the man want to hurt a woman and her son by shooting them.
Jessie would normally frequent the Dutch-speaking country of Suriname. Asked if they were aware of Jessie being a licensed firearm holder, the residents responded in the negative. The residents also explained that this is the first time they had seen the man with a firearm, and they were extremely shocked.
One resident explained to family members of the two injured people that she had seen a man running at a fast rate out of the street as he tucked something underneath his jersey. She said at first she thought the man had robbed someone. According to her, the man run across the East Bank Highway and jumped onto a moving truck which was heading in the direction of Georgetown. She said the truck driver ordered the man off, but he profanely ordered the truck driver to keep the truck moving. She added that after she had seen another villager running out, she enquired what was transpiring and became aware that her friend and her son had been shot.
Meanwhile, back at Mc Doom yesterday, the relatives of the assailant attempted to capitalize on the fact that residents were not willing to give the police any account of what had transpired, and the family of the two injured were all at the hospital. In their attempt to mislead investigators, the assailant’s companion told police officers that her husband was not the shooter. She told the investigators that it was actually Martin who was in possession of the firearm. The woman said that during the argument, Abiola’s son Martin whipped out a gun and attempted to shoot Jessie, and ended up shooting his mother in the process.
Weaving the proverbial tangled web with her lies, the woman could not explain to the police how Martin, being the shooter, was shot in the chest; and why her husband was the one now in hiding. Her lies caused the police to take a special interest in her, and she was whisked away to the Ruimveldt Police Station for questioning.