Vendor critical after shot twice by constabulary Allegedly used cutlass By Samantha Alleyne Stabroek News October 28, 2000 Vendor Shawn Bobb, who allegedly stabbed Constable Solomon Taylor, was yesterday shot in the knee and hip by members of the City Constabulary whom he was said to have attacked with a cutlass. A release from the Mayor and City Council yesterday said that at about 0635 hrs members of the constabulary were responding to reports that Corporal Andrew Aulder was being held hostage by a group of men when they observed vehicle HA 6965, driven by a man. The release continued that the vehicle was the one used by vendors to commit offences on Regent Street last week and as a result the constables pursued the vehicle, to the corner of Regent and Wellington streets. As the car approached the corner it stopped suddenly and Bobb was one of the occupants who disembarked. According to the release, Bobb entered the upper flat of the dilapidated building located on the corner and was pursued. He was said to have pulled out a cutlass and attacked the law enforcement officers. Warning shots were fired but he ignored them and was subsequently shot in the knee and hip. A subsequent search conducted on his person revealed a pistol. Stabroek News was unable to speak to Bobb yesterday afternoon as he was in a critical condition in the male surgical ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital. An official at the hospital yesterday said that Bobb underwent surgery early yesterday but the bullet in his knee was still to be dislodged. His condition, the official said, was critical and he was being closely monitored and not allowed to eat nor drink. Reports on the incident were sketchy but this newspaper understands that Bobb, who hawked his wares at the corner of Regent and Wellington streets, sought refuge in the dilapidated house when he saw members of the constabulary. It was alleged that the man was not in a car at the time of the incident but was `liming' at the corner. It is expected that after his recovery Bobb will be charged with injuring Taylor, who was stabbed in the abdomen and then pushed into a drain on Tuesday during the unrest on Regent Street over vending. Taylor is in the Georgetown Hospital. And The United Force (TUF) in a release said that it strongly condemned the naked aggression displayed by Regent Street vendors against members of the City Constabulary. The release said that the TUF was aware that the job of running the city was a gigantic responsibility and as such it felt that due respect should, at all times, be afforded to all the city officers and members as they undertook the individual tasks assigned to them. Vendors and members of the city constabulary have been at loggerheads since September 30 after the law enforcement officers enforced the ruling of Justice Carl Singh who on September 29, discharged an injunction which the vendors had obtained several years ago. The injunction had prevented the Mayor and City Council from removing the vendors from the Regent Street pavement. Since then there have been several confrontations between the vendors and members of the city constabulary and the situation got worse for the vendors on Wednesday after Justice Singh declined to hear an application for a stay of the execution of his order until normality returned to the city. Regent Street was quiet yesterday. A few vendors could be seen hawking their wares from small cartons. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today