THE gunman who was shot in Friday’s morning intrusion at Annandale, East Coast Demerara is, contrary to earlier reports, very much alive but in critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital, the police confirmed yesterday.The confirmation comes one day after the lawmen had announced that the intruder had been shot dead during the commission of the crime.

Reports are that the police revisited the crime scene yesterday, and took statements from persons living there and in its environs.

Attempts however to confirm whether they had been able to capture the dead gunman’s two accomplices proved futile, as were our efforts to ascertain whether they had made any headway with gathering information about the men and where they reside.

On Friday, the police had launched a search for the other two men who, together with the shot bandit, had attempted to carry out a robbery when the businessman, a licensed firearm holder and a rural constable, challenged them.

Two firearms have been recovered from the scene, and those have been handed over to the police.

RECAP
At approximately 02:00 hrs on Friday, an occupant of the Lot 10 Church Street, Annandale home got up to use the washroom when he heard the family’s dogs barking aggressively. The man alerted his son, a licensed firearm holder and a rural constable, who successfully managed to challenge the intruders. This family also operates a taxi service and food business elsewhere.

The foregoing information was subsequently confirmed by a report from the Guyana Police Force (GPF), which stated that the shooting occurred when businessman, Ishwar Jeffrey, 49, was aroused by the barking of his dogs. He awoke his son, Mananno Jeffrey, who is a rural constable and a member of the Annandale North Community Policing Group and is licensed to use the CPG’s gun.

The latter armed himself, and on checking, was confronted by the trio in the building. Police said one of the three discharged a round at Mananno Jeffrey and he returned fire, grievously wounding the shooter, while the other two managed to escape. A .38 revolver with three rounds and a spent shell were recovered in the house, and another .38 was retrieved outside.

Speaking with this publication, Mananno Jeffery said that after his father had alerted him to the presence of the intruders, he looked outside and observed one of the men forcing himself through a bathroom window to get into the house. He hurried to descend to the lower flat of the house, but while he was halfway there he encountered the bandit, who had already made his way through the window. As the intruder spotted him and pointed a gun in his direction, he opened fire on the man, but missed his target.

The man then ran down the stairs and concealed himself in a room in the lower flat of the building, intending to escape, but that was not possible since, unlike the window the man had used to gain entry into the house, the bedroom windows were all grilled.

Mananno said, “Knowing very well that the bandit could not escape using the windows in the room, he waited patiently outside the room for the man to exit. The intruder spent about five seconds in the room and then fired a warning shot before attempting to exit the room. Mananno said he was unfazed by the shot, since he had already taken cover and was just waiting for the man to exit the room. As the intruder exited the room, he shot the man in the jaw, severing his tongue and shattering his teeth and gum in the process.

Mananno told the Chronicle that after he had shot the first bandit in the home, he dashed outside to confront the other two, but they had already scaled the fence and made good their escape, leaving a .38 revolver behind.

Back in the house, the intruder was still alive and was sitting up. When the police arrived approximately one and a half hours after the incident, they asked the intruder if he wanted to go to the hospital, and he responded in the positive.

Jeffery showed this newspaper the window through which the intruder had entered the home, and he even pointed to a bullet hole which was left in the wall after the bandit had fired his warning shot before he thought it was safe to exit the room.

The intruder had also left behind a band which is reportedly used by thieves to prevent their detection or capture.

A total of seven persons live in the house which had been targeted; they comprise five adults and two children, aged eight and four.
Written By Leroy Smith