Alleged police shooting of men after chase still being probed

Cecil Sampat
Cecil Sampat

Although two members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) were recently placed before the court, police will be conducting a further probe of the city chase which left civilian Cecil Sampat dead and his friend Winston Fraser paralysed.

This was confirmed by Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, who told Sunday Stabroek yesterday that the ranks, who are currently on remand, are likely to face additional charges.

Sampat, 39, a John Fernandes Limited worker, died as a results of sepsis, caused by gunshot injuries after he and Fraser were allegedly shot by law enforcers sometime on July 25.

Imjured: Winston Fraser

Fraser, 27, remains hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) with a warhead lodged in his spine.

Two members of the GPF, Corporal Godwin Thomas and Constable Troy Munroe, were remanded to prison on Friday after they were charged with murdering Sampat.

Both ranks were not required to answer the charge and were remanded until August 21st.

No charges have yet been laid in relation to the wounding of Fraser.

Police have said that they pursued the vehicle with the men and two others although how the men were shot has not been made clear.

The two ranks (Munroe at left and Thomas at right) on their way to the courthouse on Friday

Erica Tullaram, a sister of the deceased, had told this newspaper that her brother was shot four times about his body and not three as the family was initially told, and as a result, he suffered damage to his intestines, kidneys, and lungs as a result of his wounds.

Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie, previously told this newspaper that the case is currently under investigation and the police were working to bring the investigation to a close.

According to a police report, law enforcers claimed that around 1.30am on Saturday, July 25, three police officers on patrol observed a large gathering at the junction of Agricola Road and the East Bank Highway.

The officers approached the crowd and requested that they disperse. It was during the dispersal that police witnessed a fight between two men, one of whom allegedly whipped out a gun and pointed it in the direction of the other while trying to make his escape in a car bearing registration number PYY 4432.

As a result, the police say one of the ranks sent out a transmission over the force network while they chased after the vehicle. The chase ended at D’Urban Street and Mandela Avenue. The report did not state when or how the men were shot but that two men who were injured were escorted to the hospital by the police. The two injured men nursing gunshot wounds to their backs, were identified as Sampat and Fraser. It was noted that no gun was found in the car but there was one live round of ammunition.

The other two occupants of the car were 22-year-old Joshua Letlow, of East Ruimveldt, and 23-year-old Seon Greenidge. According to the incident report, Letlow and Greenidge, who were interviewed, stated that they were in the vicinity of Houston when they observed a patrol car following them, which led Fraser to drive faster. After a chase through several areas in Georgetown, the men noted that they saw the same white police patrol car along with two other police pickups pursuing them.

They men recounted that soon after they heard loud explosions similar to that of gunshots behind them after which Fraser and Sampat said they were both hit. Fraser drove the car for a little bit more before coming to a stop at Mandela Avenue and D’Urban Street.