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Pregnant vendor shot by cop
…intended target flees on bicycle
Earlene Morgan
By Latoya Giles
Doctors at the Georgetown Public Hospital were desperately trying to save the life of a 20-year-old market vendor and her unborn child, after the woman was accidentally shot on Water Street by an off duty police officer who was pursuing a bandit in the vicinity of Stabroek Market yesterday morning.
Earlene Morgan, of 64 Company Road, Buxton, who is five months pregnant with what would be her first child, was rushed to the hospital nursing a gunshot wound to the back. Hospital sources have indicated that the bullet is lodged in the woman’s spine and removing it may cause her to lose her child or become paralyzed.
According to eyewitnesses, the off duty police officer was trying to apprehend a bandit who had just snatched a cell phone from a female student when he accidentally shot the woman. The bandit who was riding a bicycle managed to escape in the crowd.
The woman’s mother, Yvette Morgan, who is also a vendor at the market, was present at the time of the shooting – around 09:20hrs. She told Kaieteur News that her daughter had just arrived at the market and was unpacking her goods.
“We just reach at the market and taking out the goods to pack them out” Morgan said. According to the woman, her daughter had just stopped what she was initially doing to assist a customer when they heard someone shouting “hold that boy”. The woman said shortly after she heard a gunshot and ran for cover in a nearby store.
Morgan said she only became aware that her daughter was shot after she started shouting for help.
“She started shouting ‘Mommy I get shoot in meh back’ and that is when I know she get shoot”. The police officer and Morgan’s mother quickly summoned a taxi which transported the injured woman to the hospital.
At the hospital, doctors told the relatives that the bullet was lodged in the woman’s spine and they were at the time unclear of the severity of the injury.
The doctors also did an ultra sound to see if any damage was done to the unborn child. They were also trying to stabilize the woman’s pressure which was fluctuating.
One of the woman’s aunts, Donna Morgan, expressed anger at the fact that the officer would try to shoot someone where a crowd is. My niece was making an honest living he (the police) should have tried his best to catch that thief without even using his firearm.
“How could you shoot at a crowd, he should run behind de man and catch he,” the woman said. The relatives stressed that a full investigation must be carried out. When this newspaper visited the market yesterday there were mixed reactions about the shooting. Some vendors said that the officer who is involved in the shooting is the only police officer who would take on the bandits who rob unsuspecting people in the Stabroek Market.
Other vendors said that the officer should feel the full brunt of the law because he was too careless and could cause Morgan to lose her child or her life.
“How you gon shoot at somebody in a crowd you got to run behind de man, de police always moving wild,” was another vendor’s take on the shooting.
Kaieteur News managed to get a comment from the policeman when he was at the hospital. The officer said that the bandit is known to the police and he had just snatched a phone from a woman. He said that he tried to apprehend the thief but the suspect pulled out a weapon and attacked him.
The officer said he fired one shot at the man and the bullet ricocheted and hit the woman. Detectives recovered a cutlass.
According to a police press release, the rank was trying to arrest a bandit who had just snatched a cell phone. The release further stated that the policeman pursued and confronted the suspect in Water Street.
It was alleged that the suspect pulled out a knife and attacked the rank, which caused the rank to resort to the use of force and he discharged a round from his service firearm at his attacker’s foot which hit the ground and ricocheted, accidentally hitting Morgan. Police sources last night confirmed that an identifiable suspect had been arrested and is being detained at the Brickdam Station. The suspect is assisting with investigations.
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