A WOMAN and a taxi driver were shot and injured early Tuesday morning by a lone gunman on a bicycle. This occurred during an armed robbery at Plantation Providence, East Bank Demerara.

Injured are Kathy Vyphuis who was shot in the arm and taxi driver, Tommy Lee Stephenson, who was shot in the hand at about 02:00hrs when he (Stephenson) stopped to drop off Vyphuis who was returning home from work.

According to Nicole Telford, the injured woman’s neighbour, she was awakened by two loud gunshots and the screams of a female which caused her to get out of bed to enquire.
Telford told the Guyana Chronicle that she took the injured Vyphuis into her house while the taxi driver sped off to the Diamond Hospital.

However, a few minutes after, the bandit came to Telford’s door and asked that that she open it as he had Vyphuis’ bag and claimed it was not she he wanted. At this point, Telford said she became afraid and began shouting for help but no one came to their assistance. She also called the police who, when they showed up an hour later, related that their incident was the third robbery within days to have occurred in the area.

Telford disclosed that she has not slept properly for three nights as the bandit had shot and damaged the street light in front of her hom, which she and the injured neighbour had paid to have installed.

Meanwhile, Commander ‘A’ Division, Marlon Chapman when contacted said, both the taxi driver and passenger, are stable. According to him, the matter is being investigated but he pointed out that there is only one anti-crime patrol that covers the villages between Eccles and Grove.

Chapman said too, that the Providence Police Station does not have the services of a vehicle at present, however, efforts are being made to rectify the situation.