AN East Coast Demerara businessman was up to late last evening assisting the police with their investigations into the shooting earlier in the day of a teenager he found allegedly trespassing on one of his properties.

Injured is 17-year-old Afzel Fazal of Strathspey, East Coast Demerara, who was reportedly shot once in the upper chest by the businessman, Surendra Persaud, a licensed firearm holder.

The incident reportedly occurred sometime during the day, when Persaud arrived at the premises and found the lad in his coconut tree, picking the nuts and throwing them down to a friend.
When confronted, Afzel, who was armed with a cutlass, allegedly threatened to do Persaud harm if he dared touch him. Persaud told detectives that he had no time to fire a warning shot, as the youngster was not only armed, but allegedly asked if he wanted to die, and threw the cutlass at him.

Afzel, after being shot, reportedly refused to dismount the tree for fear Persaud might have shot him again. It took the intervention of the police, and the use of a scaffold to get him down, and taken to the hospital, where he was immediately taken into surgery.

When the Guyana Chronicle arrived at the scene later in the day, a “crocus bag” laden with coconuts was still on the ground beneath the tree, as were some freshly-cut coconut branches.

Meanwhile, the donkey the two lads had used to take them to spot stood patiently in the broiling sun, waiting to make the return journey.

Persaud, who operates an auto mart at another location, said he was at work when he received a call saying that there were two persons trespassing on his property. Also at the scene were Afzel’s relatives, who expressed alarm that he was shot “fuh just stealing li’l coconuts.”

The police have since taken possession of the businessman’s firearm, while Afzel’s friend has been taken into custody.