Guard shoots Arouca man in head

Damien Suth-erland, 19, alias “Wacko” of Dunder Hill, Arouca, is now fighting for his life at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, after being shot in the head by a SWAT security guard on Old Year’s Day. In retaliation, residents of Williams and Hosein Streets, Arouca, took matters into their own hands when they smashed the car belonging to the security company, shortly after the four officers attempted to escape. The officers fled to the Arouca Police Station where they reported the shooting and the damage to the vehicle.

When Sunday Newsday visited the area, an eyewitness reported that Sutherland and another friend were standing outside a pub in the area around 3.30 pm, when the car with the four officers arrived on the scene. One of the guards known to Sutherland, reportedly threatened to “rub him down.” Sutherland responded by telling the guard that he was not a police officer and did not have the right to touch him. The angry guard allegedly ran up to Sutherland, kicked him to the ground, placed a gun to his head, and the gun went off. This prompted an angry response from eyewitnesses, who accosted the guard. They began pelting the car with stones and pieces of wood. The four guards managed to escape. Relatives of Sutherland are  calling for a full probe into the shooting.Stacey Sutherland, a sister of the injured man said that she too was threatened with a gun by a guard.