–dead businessman allegedly shot one bandit to the head, body before his death
-police recover quantity of ammo, firearms at crime scene
Six heavily armed gunmen, each donning masks across their faces, stormed into a mining camp at the Marudi Backdam, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and gunned down its 58-year-old owner in the presence of his workmen during an attempted robbery.
The now dead gold miner, Fredson Da Conceicao, who hailed from Brazilian soil, managed to shoot to death one of the suspects in an exchange of gunfire, moments before he was murdered.
Fredson resided in a building which is partly built with wood and joined to a “container”. This makeshift structure also houses a safety vault and the gold miner was murdered while sitting at the entrance of his “home.”
Reports are that around 17:00h on Friday, one of his workmen left the mining camp and ventured to a distance where they would plant provisions. He had told his boss and coworkers that he would be returning with some cassava that would be used to prepare the evening’s meal.
However, after one and half hours had passed and the workman failed to return, his son (the workman’s) left in search of his father.
According to a source, while en route to the farmlands, the young man was confronted by the six masked gunmen; the perpetrators had his father held hostage with some of their weapons pointed at the older man.
The father and son were forcibly pushed towards the direction of their mining camp but the gunmen did not anticipate that Fredson would have been at his door when they arrived.
The gold miner is said to have immediately reached for his firearm, a 9mm Glock 34 pistol, while the six suspects ran in various directions while opening fire in the direction of Fredson.
The 58-year-old man managed to return fire while his workers scattered from their locations and ran to take cover. Some five to 10 minutes silence filled the air and the workers slowly crept from their hiding spots to locate their boss.
Fredson’s bullet ridden body was found some 10 feet away from his house while the body of one of the masked gunmen was seen about two (2) feet away from the gold miner.
According to a police source, when investigators arrived at the scene, an examination on his body revealed four gunshot wounds; one to the left shoulder, one to the chest, another on his left wrist and the fourth on the left side of his body.
The suspect, whose face was concealed by a black plastic bag, had one gunshot wound to his head and another to his body.
HGP Nightly News was informed that a search of the area unearthed 18 spent shells belonging to three different guns while one Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun loaded with five (5) cartridges was discovered under the dead suspect.
Additionally, a plastic bag containing 12 cartridges, a pair of long boots, a knife, five “war heads” and one cartridge was found inside of the suspect’s pants and a GPS was located at the crime scene.
Meanwhile, Fredson’s weapon was found next to his body.
The two bodies were transported to the Aishalton District Hospital where each was pronounced dead on arrival. They are currently at the Lethem Hospital mortuary awaiting Post Mortem (PM) examinations.
Regional Commander, Superintendent, Keithon King, when contacted tonight about the incident, stated that his ranks are presently combing the areas close to the mining camp where the shootings/murders occurred with the hopes of nabbing the men that committed the crime(s).
Investigations into the matter continue.
