The police have launched a hunt for a 19-year-old Buxton man who is suspected of involvement in the near fatal shooting of a policeman’s daughter on Saturday night at Victoria, East Coast Demerara.
Danavan Keith Hailes, of 30 Church of God Road, Buxton has been added to the police’s wanted person list. A release yesterday from Force Headquarters, Eve Leary stated that Hailes is wanted by the police in connection with investigations into murder, attempted murder, robbery and escaping from lawful custody.
A senior police source told Stabroek News that the teen escaped from the Ruimveldt Police Station in Georgetown sometime earlier this year and was wanted for questioning in relation to the shooting death of a Presidential Guard at Buxton a few weeks ago, and the attempted murder of Shamali Smith on Saturday night. Smith, 17, and a student of Critchlow Labour College, is the second of three children for policeman Eon Smith.
Up to press time last night, the girl was scheduled to undergo surgery to remove a bullet that was lodged in her spine. A lone gunman reportedly shot her four times about the body as a friend was towing her home on a bicycle, along the Victoria Main Road.
Shamali Smith and her friend were, at the time, returning home from a ‘Back to School’ dance at a sports ground in the village. As the pair rode past the burial ground, a man emerged and opened fire on Smith. The couple fell from the bike and the gunman escaped. The girl was subsequently rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in a passing minibus.
Hospital sources said Shamali sustained one bullet to the ribs, which penetrated her spleen and lung; another to the upper chest, which lodged in her spine; and two to her right hand. Stabroek News understands that one of the bullets that passed through the teen’s hand penetrated her left leg and caused a compound fracture.
The police are urging anyone with information concerning Hailes to contact them on telephone numbers 225-8196, 226-1326, 225-3650, 226-6978, 225-2317.