Warhead removed from child’s throat; uncle admits to firing gun- police

Last Updated on Friday, 12 January 2024, 7:17 by Denis Chabrol

The warhead that was in stuck in a five-year old girl’s throat was removed successfully and she on Friday remained hospitalised in a stable condition, the Guyana Police Force said.

The girl was reportedly shot by her uncle while lying in bed after a bullet protruded a wall between the two apartments.

Investigators said the prime suspect in the incident, 24-year old Shemar Caesar called ‘Mama’, a taxi driver of Half Mile, Wismar Linden was arrested at about 5:15 PM Thursday at the Mackenzie Bridge.

Police said he admitted to the shooting incident during an audio-video recorded interview with investigators between 7:09 PM and 7:30 PM at the Mackenzie Police Station. The Guyana Police Force said the suspect was cautioned in accordance with the Judges Rules and in his reply he said, among other things, “Officer, is me friend (name withheld) bring de gun and gee me fu keep last night and I try to teck out de magazine and de weapon go off”,” he was quoted as saying.

Police said the the suspect was asked about the weapon and he claimed that he went at the Four Corner and gave it back to his friend. Police are currently making efforts to contact the ‘friend’

Mr Caesar is accused of  discharging a loaded firearm with intent, and causing injury to the five-year-old child who lives in the apartment next to his at about 10 O’clock Wednesday night, January 10, 2024 at 218Half Mile Wismar Linden,

Police said they were made aware of the incident on Thursday afternoon when medical personnel of the Linden Hospital Complex reported that a child was there with a warhead lodged in her throat.

The child’s mother, 29-year old Terriann Caesar, of Lot 218 Half Mile, Wismar Linden, was also contacted by detectives and interviewed.

The woman said at about 10 PM Wednesday, she put the victim to bed and while she was trying to put her eight-month-old baby to sleep, she heard the victim screaming.

“She went to the victim and enquired what was wrong and the child said that she had hit her throat. Terriann applied ‘Petroleum jelly’ to the child’s throat and put her back to sleep. The woman said that around 08:00hrs this morning, she saw her five-year-old daughter crying, so she examined her throat and saw that it was swollen. She then took her child to the Mackenzie Hospital, where she learnt that a bullet was lodged in the victim’s neck,” police said in its account.

When police visited the scene, they said they saw a small circular hole on the said wall, suspected to be a bullet hole. “The entire scene was processed and photographed. The area was searched, but no spent shell was found,” investigators added.

A neighbour told police that around 10 PM, she heard a loud explosion, but she could not say from which direction the sound had emerged. However, just after hearing the explosion, she heard the voice of a little child crying, the woman reportedly said.