Police have detained several persons in connection with the death of newspaper vendor Sham Bharrat Chunnilall Mannilall of Queenstown, Essequibo Coast, who was shot several times by armed bandits on Friday night in the presence of his wife.

The man’s death came as a shock to the community and his wife, Rita Terbeni Friday night would forever be a night to remember.

Forcing back tears, Terbeni said that the incident occurred around 20:05 hours on Friday. She related that she and her neighbours held a bar-b-que in front of her home when the attack occurred.The woman said she went into her house for two glasses when she was approached by two armed bandits.

“They approached us at the sidestep, it was slim, tall men, one put a gun to my head and the other put a cutlass to my daughter, my daughter manage to escape and ran inside the house and started to scream,” Rita related.

She said that her daughter was screaming and this alerted her 48-year old husband who ran to assist with a mop stick. She said her husband hit one of the men with the mop stick and in a  fit of anger, the bandit opened fire on him.

“My husband then dropped to the ground, it was like a movie in front my eyes, my daughter was inside locked up, they searched his pocket and went with all of our house keys, they didn’t leave with anything, they just ran away,” Rita further lamented.

The teary-eyed woman said that when they arrived at the family’s home, the bandits demanded money from her and she complied.

She said after the bandits made their escape, residents quickly gathered and her husband was taken to the Suddie Public Hospital where he succumbed.

Her daughter was still visibly shaken when this publication visited the home and family members said they share a very amicable relationship with other residents within the community of Queenstown.

Persons who visited the family to offer words of support, described Mannilall as a very hard working individual. One of the man’s neighbors said he has been selling the daily newspapers since he was 12-years old, noting that it is a job he inherited from his father. He would be in almost every community selling the news, the man said.

Police visited the scene and a spent shell was recovered. The body of the deceased is currently at the Suddie Hospital mortuary awaiting a post mortem examination.