Shot excavator operator says gunman opened fire without making demand
Terrence Joseph, the excavator operator who was shot and robbed on Monday afternoon while on duty at Sussex Street, Albouystown said that he was attacked by a lone gunman who approached him and opened fire without making any demands.
Joseph called ‘Joe’ and ‘Uncle Joe’, 55, of Lot 469 West Ruimveldt, Georgetown was shot twice in his left leg during the incident which took place around 2pm.
He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where he remained warded up to yesterday afternoon. His condition is listed as stable.
Joseph, who is an excavator operator attached to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure yesterday related the ordeal to Stabroek News from his hospital bed.
He said he has been working at the location for a while now where he is tasked with cleaning the drains.
Joseph explained that at the time of the attack he was on a break and was reading a newspaper when he was approached by a lone gunman.
“…This man come up just like that. He seh ‘come out the machine, come out the machine’. So yuh know, I come out. I jump out. By time me jump down, me drop on the ground, I hear ‘ply, ply’. I see blood start coming out,” Joseph said.
He added that the gunman fired two shots, both of which struck him in his leg.
Not satisfied, Joseph said his attacker dealt him several lashes to his head before relieving him of his cell phone.
Throughout the ordeal, Joseph said the gunman did not say anything to him.
He said after the gunman escaped he ran towards the Memorial Gardens crematorium where he alerted the security guard before collapsing.
“After he lash me up, he run away and I run and go by the cemetery side,” Joseph said.
The security guard, who goes by the alias `Labba’ had previously told Stabroek News that he was in the yard when he heard ‘Joe’ calling out to him.
“I deh in the yard and I hear he calling fah me. ‘Labba, Labba, come. I geh shoot’. When I look I see he lie down right deh,” the man had said.
The man had noted that he rushed to ‘Joe’s’ assistance after which he phoned one of his colleagues and called the police.
Joseph said he and another colleague are usually at the location together. However, at the time of the incident, he was alone.
The injured man’s wife, Michelle Ashley said she was about to leave home to attend a funeral when Joseph’s colleague arrived and informed her of the incident.
“He come and tell me ‘come’. I seh ‘fah wah? wah happen to yuh?’ He seh Joe just get shoot. I seh he dead? and I start run down the road hollering…he seh he gone to the hospital, ambulance gone with he to the hospital,” Ashley related.
The woman said that she went to the hospital, where she met the injured Joseph.
Up to yesterday afternoon the police had not issued a statement on the incident.
However, Stabroek News understands that an investigation has been launched but no arrest has yet been made.
‘Labba’ had told Stabroek News that robberies in the area, specifically on Cemetery Road have been on the increase. He is therefore calling on the relevant authorities to look into the situation.
“They terrible heh. They got to get security in this burial ground. Council got to do something about this. This place is nah no play place,” he noted.
The man had explained that recently his grandfather was robbed of his bird and just days ago another security guard was robbed at gunpoint.