Days after two bandits were shot dead, the cousin of one of the men, Wayne Dover says that countless efforts were made to get the young man to live a better life, but he did not heed their advice.
“We tried…everyone, his mom, myself, his brother, uncles, friends, to persuade him not to go down that road and he continues,” Dover said during an interview with the News Room on Monday.
Wayne is the cousin of Calvin Dover who was fatally shot by ranks of the Guyana Police Force after an attempted robbery on Friday last on Durban Street, Georgetown.
Dover was killed in a house on Bent Street hours after fleeing the police, while his accomplice Trevor Barrow was killed at the scene. Dover was found to be in possession of a 9mm pistol which was stolen from a security guard attached to KGM security services.
Wayne said 31-year-old Calvin grew up in the same home with him in Bent Street and was not known to be a troublesome person. However, Wayne said relatives became aware of the man’s criminal lifestyle after he was arrested by the police on several occasions.
“I guess as a grown individual, he chose his way,” the cousin declared.
On the other hand, Dover believes that the police need to safeguard themselves as well. He explained that he was told that his cousin surrendered to the police before he was fatally shot.
When the police’s version of events contradicts what is said by onlookers, Wayne pointed out that it would seem that “the police always have something to cover up.”
Despite this, Wayne said he will continue to support the police in their fight against crime noting that “we need to rid the society or decrease the amount criminality.”
The man also urged relatives of criminals to cooperate with the police and help to reduce criminal activities.
This is not the first time that persons have rebuffed the police’s recount of incidents surrounding the death of suspected bandits.
In March, three men were shot dead on the Kitty Seawalls under questionable circumstances by ranks of the Guyana Police Force, who claimed that they were bandits.
While one eyewitness has since come forward to state that the police were not under any threat at the time of the incident, the police maintain that the men were about to commit a robbery and even fired shots at them. President David Granger has since ordered an inquest into the events that led to that fatal shooting.
