SHAWN Thom, a 37-year-old remanded prisoner Sunday morning died while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) .Last year Thom was shot to his right foot during an alleged confrontation with police after it was suspected that he was a member of a gang trailing travellers from the Cheddi Jagan airport into the city.
The father of three was remand since October last year when he appeared before city magistrate Ann McLennan for discharging a loaded firearm, being in possession of a gun and ammunition and also discharging a loaded firearm at off-duty police officer Prim Narine.
Last Friday, during the prison unrest at the Camp Street prison, Thom complained about feeling weak and was rushed to the GPHC. However, last Sunday Thom died at the hospital with officials unclear about the cause his death.
Thom was shot on October 7 last year when police ranks confronted the occupants of a vehicle along Barr Street, Kitty after officer Narine, who had picked up his relatives from the airport, reported his suspicion that he was being followed.
According to the police statement, a shootout followed and Thom was hit. Thom’s accomplices managed to escape, the vehicle was seized and an unlicensed .38 revolver with three live rounds and two spent shells were recovered.
The prisoner was also a former murder accused, freed of the capital offence which alleged that he murdered Lakeram Bishundial who was fatally shot during a robbery at Hope, East Coast Demerara on August 21, 2010. The case was dismissed after a judge upheld a no-case submission made on his behalf at his trial.