Suspect in Essequibo shooting is licensed firearm holder; three guns seized

Police have seized three firearms and a quantity of ammunition belonging to Fawaz Bacchus, the 40-year-old contractor who allegedly opened fire and injured a family of four on Wednesday during a land dispute at Fairfield, Essequibo Coast.

The weapons seized are a shotgun, a rifle and a pistol, all of which Bacchus is licensed to carry.

Police Headquarters on Thursday said they are investigating the incident which occurred at around 14:00 hrs Thursday.

According to the Police, Bacchus was contacted following the incident at which time he had one .32 Taurus pistol along with three live matching rounds in his possession.

He was arrested and escorted to the Aurora Police Station along with the firearm.

Later the same day, Police said he was taken to his home where a search unearthed one Red Jacket .223 semi-automatic rifle with 32 live matching rounds and two magazines, as well as, an Escort 12-gauge shotgun along with three live 12-gauge cartridges.

Further investigations were carried out and it was revealed that Bacchus is licensed to carry the weapons, Police said.

Nevertheless, he was arrested in relation to the shooting incident and the weapons were seized. One of the victims of the shooting, Rajkumarie Ragoobar had streamed the incident live on Facebook.

The suspect can be seen in the footage standing on top a front-end loader and firing in the direction of Ragoobar, while other persons nearby are seen hurling objects at the suspect.

Ragoobar can be heard screaming in the seven-minute-long video as she displayed her injured leg.

Police identified the three other victims as Roopchand Maraj, a 63-year-old contractor and his two sons, Satrohan Maraj, 37 of Leguan Island and Jadonauth Maraj, a 34-year-old rice farmer.

According to a Police report, Satrohan claimed that the dam where the shooting occurred belonged to him. He claimed that Bacchus blocked the dam with a front-end loader, preventing him from having free access.

“Satrohan Maraj claimed that at the time of the incident, he was operating one of his excavators in an effort to move the front-end loader when Fawaz Bacchus exited the loader armed with a handgun and discharged several rounds in his direction and those on the dam,” Police Headquarters on Thursday said.

Satrohan was shot in his right hand while Ragoobar received a gunshot wound to her right thigh. Jadonauth Maraj and Roopchand Maraj also received injuries.

They were all taken to the Suddie Hospital where they were treated and sent away. Police recovered four .32 spent shells and one warhead at the scene.