Shot to the head, south youth escapes death

After being shot behind his head on Wednesday night, a 24-year-old man pretended to be dead until the gunmen walked away. Bleeding profusely from the wound Gabriel Thomas then miraculously got up and walked 200 metres to his friend’s home at Aripero Village, Rousillac, where he called the police. Lying on a hospital bed yesterday with a bandaged head Thomas, a Seventh Day Adventist, thanked God for sparing his life. Thomas said doctors at the San Fernando General Hospital told him he was very lucky since the bullet entered his flesh and exited without penetrating the skull. “It is a miracle. God can keep anyone alive as long as He wishes,” the young man added.

Recalling his near death experience,  Thomas told Newsday that around 8.50 pm he was in his yard at Silver Stream Street, when two men, one armed with a gun, approached him. Thomas said the men asked him “where the rasta,” referring to his stepfather. “They told me to lie down and don’t move or they will shoot me. They then bound my mouth with duct tape. After they put the gun to my head and pull the trigger,” he recalled. Realising that he had been shot, Thomas said he did not panic. Instead he pretended to be dead.

“I know a little bit of first aid so after  I was sure they were gone I placed my hand on my head and applied pressure to try and stop the bleeding,” he added. Thomas said the only thing he could think about at that time was seeking emergency assistance. Twenty minutes later, after walking 200 metres to his friend’s home, he was in an ambulance being rushed to the hospital. Oropouche police have not yet arrested anyone in connection with the incident. Investigations are continuing.