Shot cop still critical, magistrate arrested

Gordon Giljuys   Police corporal Mark George, who was shot by Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys on Thursday night, was showing slight signs of improvement over the weekend, giving his relatives a glimmer of hope that he might pull through safely.

George, a member of the Tactical Services Unit and a resident of 2033 Humming Bird Street, Festival City is currently a patient at the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Hospital on a life support machine. Several of George’s vital organs were damaged and he has already had one operation. His relatives said they had been required to donate blood for him.

On Saturday, friends and relatives flocked the hospital for a chance to see him and one relative said he was squeezing persons’ hands although he was still hooked up to the machine. His condition is still listed as critical.

Sometime around 11.30 pm on Thursday, the policeman, clad in a navy-blue uniform, arrived at the Georgetown hospital with a gaping wound to his chest and was immediately taken to the operating theatre. He was conscious.

It was later reported that Magistrate Gilhuys was behind the shooting but he has since denied that he fired first at the policeman.

In a press release on Friday, the police said that around 11.15 pm a mobile police patrol observed a heavily tinted Rav 4 vehicle, PJJ 6832, parked on Woolford Avenue, Georgetown.

The patrol stopped and approached the vehicle with a view to making checks, the release said, adding that the officers called on the driver to turn on the lights of the vehicle and this resulted in a verbal exchange during which the driver discharged rounds at the patrol officers hitting Corporal 18352 George in his abdomen.

According to the release, police returned fire hitting the vehicle, but the driver managed to drive away. He subsequently reported to the police at Brickdam, and was found to be Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys, a licensed firearm holder. The magistrate, the release said, alleged that the police had fired upon him and he returned fire. The release said Magistrate Gilhuys refused to give a written statement and to hand over his firearm when it was demanded of him by a senior officer of the Guyana Police Force. He left the compound leaving his vehicle, which was observed to have several bullet holes.

The release said the magistrate later returned in the company of attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes who handed him over to the police. He was taken into custody and his firearm lodged. The magistrate however has refused to give a written statement, the release said, adding that "it has been observed that his firearm was not licensed for the year 2006."

Further, the release said, he has been placed on bail pending further enquiries. The amount of the bail was not stated in the release and efforts to ascertain that proved futile.

When Magistarte Gilhuys turned himself in, he was told that he was being arrested for discharging a loaded firearm.

Although the magistrate claimed that the police first fired at him, residents in proximity to the area, recalled hearing about three single shots followed by a volley. It is based on this that police officials are accepting the story of the TSU ranks.

It is unclear what the magistrate will be charged with but in the light of this incident there have been calls for him to be removed from the bench immediately.

(Stabroek News)

Meanwhile, the Kaieteur News says the Police have launched an investigation following disclosures that Magistrate Gilhuys did not use the weapon he was licenced to carry. Kaieteur News understands that the weapon used by the magistrate was a Police weapon that was issued to him when he was a member of the Force. A source said that the weapon was not returned to the Police after Gilhuys ceased to be a Police officer.

The weapon has been seized by the Police, who are investigating the shooting incident.

This newspaper also says it understands that the magistrate is likely to face criminal charges as well as have his firearm licence revoked.