Retired cop shot for $4

A 60-YEAR-OLD retired policeman plying his car for hire on Tuesday night was shot and seriously wounded by a passenger who refused to pay the ex-officer the four-dollar fare. Retired Special Reserve Policeman (SRP) Metivier Mc Echavena was up to late yesterday evening warded in serious condition at San Fernando General Hospital  after undergoing emergency surgery. Doctors have told Mc Echavena’s relatives that he was in desperate need of eight pints of blood. Meanwhile, police have launched a man-hunt for the suspect. Mc Echavena, a diabetic from Southern Main Road, La Romaine, usually plied his car for hire along the St John’s Village-San Fernando taxi route. According to police reports, around 10 pm, Mc Echavena picked up four men at Library Corner, who asked to be taken to St John’s Village. On reaching Cipero Road, Golconda, the men asked to be dropped off and exited the vehicle. However, one of them did not  pay Mc Echavena his money.

When Mc Echavena asked the passenger for his money, the man walked up to the driver’s side of the vehicle, whipped out a gun and fired several shots at Mc Echavena, one of which struck him in the lower abdomen. A badly bleeding Mc Echavena quickly sped off, but crashed into a mud embankment on the side of the road a short distance away. Residents who heard the gunshots telephoned the police and the EHS ambulance service, which took the unconscious man to hospital. Visiting the scene were a party of officers led by Insp Ali and including Sgt Thongs and WP Cpl Gonzales. Ste Madeleine police are continuing investigations.