The killing of 23-year-old Ronaldo Peters has sparked protests in the mining town of Linden. Peters was shot by a plain clothes Police Sergeant on Monday night who has since been placed under close arrest. Residents angered by the shooting of the young man flocked to the Police Station demanding answers.
A video released on social media following the shooting showed the police officers arriving in a minibus, Peters who was sitting with others upon seeing them, got up and ran. However, the policeman who exited the minibus with his gun in hand shot Peters, and moments later he was seen dragging him from the area he was shot to their waiting minibus.
However, the Guyana Police Force in a statement released on the killing said a party of policemen which included the Sergeant who was armed with a 9MM service pistol and a second rank armed with a .38 service revolver and attired in full uniform went to arrest Peters.
However, the video of the shooting contradicts this. The Sergeant was attired in what appeared to be a white T-shirt.
The Police also claimed that Peters attempted to jump a nearby fence, but the Sergeant managed to pull him off the fence, and in the process of subduing him, his service pistol which was in his right hand went off and hit Peters. This was contradicted by the video that showed Peters attempting to escape through a vendor’s mall. Peters did not get too far and according to eyewitnesses the Sergeant shot him following which he was seen dragging him to the minibus and then transported to the Linden Hospital Complex where he succumbed while being treated for the injury to his right side abdomen.
A post-mortem examination is to be carried out on his remains to ascertain his exact cause of death. The Sergeant at the center of the shooting is on close arrest and escorted to the Tactical Service Unit (TSU) while an investigation has been launched by the Office of Professional of Responsibility.