On Thursday afternoon, Police in Linden were notified by personnel at the Linden Hospital Complex that a child was admitted with a “warhead lodged in her throat”.
According to Police, around 22:00hrs on Wednesday, the child, was in her bed at her home in Half Mile, Wismar, Linden, when she started screaming. Her 29-year-old mother, Terrian Caesar, said she had already put her child to bed and was putting her eight-month-old toddler to sleep when she heard the screaming.
When asked why she was screaming, the five-year-old said she had hit her throat. The mother said she then put petroleum jelly to her throat and put her back to bed.
When the mother saw her daughter crying again the next morning, she examined her throat and noticed swelling in the area. Upon taking the child to the Mackenzie Hospital, the mother learned that her child had a bullet lodged in her neck. Further examination revealed a small entry wound in her neck.
Police said the apartment the child resides in is on the northern-eastern bottom flat of a two-story concrete structure. A wooden wall to the western side separated Caesar’s apartment from the front apartment. A circular hole, which is suspected to be a bullet hole, was found on the wooden wall. The adjoining apartment, which shares the wooden wall, was occupied by a man by the name of Shemar. Despite searching the area, there was no one present in the front apartment and no shell was found.
Police questioned a neighbor, who claimed that around 22:00hrs on Wednesday, she heard a loud explosion, followed by the voice of a child crying. Unfortunately, she was not able to say from which direction the sound occurred.
On Thursday afternoon, the child underwent surgery to remove the bullet from her throat, and the operation was successful. The detached warhead was handed over to the police, while the child remained at the hospital in a stable condition.
The bullet was photographed, marked, sealed, and escorted to the Guyana Police Force’s Ballistics section for analysis.
A Detective Inspector and other ranks within the Division arrested the suspect at the Mackenzie bridge around 17:15hrs on Thursday. He has been identified as Shemar Ceasar, aka “Mama”, who is a twenty-four-year-old cab driver of Half Mile, Wismar Linden.
Ceasar was escorted to his apartment, where a search found nothing of evidential value, then to the Mackenzie Police Station, where his hands were swabbed for gunpowder residue.
Later that night, a video and audio interview was conducted with the suspect between 19:09 hrs and 19:30 hrs at the Mackenzie Police Station.
During the interview, the suspect was read his rights and was told of an allegation that on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, at Half Mile Wismar Linden, he discharged a loaded firearm with intent, and caused injury to the five-year-old child who lived in the adjoining apartment.
After being cautioned of the Judges rules, he included in his reply “Officer, is me friend (name withheld) bring de gun and gee me fuh keep last night and I try to teck out de magazine and de weapon go off”.
Further questions were asked, and he responded accordingly, all of which were recorded with video and audio. Ceasar claimed that he went at the Four Corner and gave the weapon back to his friend. Police are currently attempting to contact the said friend.
Investigations continue.