Cop shoots lover dead, kills self

Aug 30, 2008 News

Dead: Police constable Trevor Cumberbatch

Dead: Selena Ramona Khan

A 31-year-old policeman shot his 33-year-old lover dead, at around 11:00 hrs yesterday, before taking his own life.
Selena Ramona Khan, a mother of three, was shot in the chest outside her Lot 18 Public Road, La Penitence home, and succumbed shortly after.
Her lover of two years, police constable 16773 Trevor Oswald Cumberbatch, then turned the weapon on himself.
Khan was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, while Cumberbatch succumbed at the same institution.
Reports are that Cumberbatch had gone to Khan’s home and called out for her.
She subsequently came downstairs to meet him.
According to neighbours, two gunshots rang out, followed by a third, about 10 seconds after.
One of Khan’s daughters was then heard screaming hysterically. Upon checking, neighbours found the bodies of Khan and Cumberbatch on the ground, in a pool of blood.
The police were immediately informed and responded promptly.
The mother of the police officer, Dawn Mc Donald, who was summoned by relatives, could be seen lamenting and crying out:
“Oh God, Trevor! If you had problems, why you didn’t come to me? I always tell you”. Khan’s three children were also present at the scene.
Neighbours do not recall any altercation in the house before the incident.
The dead man’s mother says she has no idea what prompted her son to commit such a violent act. She said he never indicated he had any problem with Khan.
According to Mc Donald, as far as she knows, her son and Khan had been lovers for the past two years. She added that Khan had even lived at her West Ruimveldt home for a short period.
Apart from that, Mc Donald said, her son’s paramour also visited her home to see her son on several occasions, and the couple appeared to have had an amicable relationship.
She said she last saw her son alive on Thursday morning; but, yesterday, she received a call from someone who informed her that her son had shot himself and his girlfriend. She recounted that by the time she got to the scene her son appeared to have already succumbed.
Cumberbatch is said to have been a serving member of the Guyana Police Force for the past thirteen years. Up to his death, he was stationed at the East La Penitence Police Station.
Khan’s relatives declined to comment on the tragic incident.
Police in a release said investigations revealed that Cumberbatch and the woman shared an intimate relationship. He was detailed for duty escorting prisoners from the Georgetown Prisons to the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, and was armed with a .38 revolver and six rounds matching ammunition.
Yesterday he deposited the prisoners at court and escaped from the court area and went to the home of the deceased where he shot her in the head and chest. He then shot himself in his right temple.
The two were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
The bodies are awaiting post-mortem examinations.