Cops find injured suspect in forest

BLEEDING from a gunshot wound sustained during a shootout with police in Oropouche on Monday, a 22-year-old man was arrested by police who found him hiding in a forested area yesterday. Some twelve hours after the shoot-out. His two accomplices are still at large. According to police reports, around 9 am, a party of officers led by Sgt Adhar spotted the suspect while searching a forested area at St John’s Village, Oropouche, a short distance away from where the shooting incident took place. Wearing a blood-soaked pants, the man was crouched by a tree in a forested area behind a church. The suspect was arrested and taken for medical treatment at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Following this, the suspect was handed over to officers of the San Fernando CID to be placed on identification parades in connection with larceny of cars and other offences. The suspect is likely to be charged with a series of offences arising out of the incident, including larceny of a motor vehicle and shooting with intent. The 22-year-old suspect was shot following a high-speed chase which ensued after police spotted three people travelling in a stolen vehicle. The chase ended after the car skidded off the road and slammed into a concrete house at St John’s Branch Road. Following this, there was an exchange of gun fire between the bandits and the police, causing the residents of the house to run for cover. Eventually the suspects, including the injured man, ran through some nearby bushes and escaped. Investigations are continuing.