The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE recent shooting of an off duty police officer, who remains in critical condition in hospital, could be connected to the abduction and rape of a woman over the weekend, a police source told The Tribune.

However when contacted about this yesterday, Chief Supt Paul Rolle, said police were still investigating the shooting as they had yet to glean any concrete information.

“We are still investigating, however we have not made any connections between the two incidents,” Chief Supt Rolle said. “The officer remains in critical condition in hospital.”

According to police reports, shortly before 1am on Saturday, a woman was sitting in a silver coloured Honda Accord owned by her boyfriend when two men armed with guns jumped into the vehicle and drove the woman to an undisclosed area where she was sexually assaulted.

The men then abandoned the woman and the vehicle in the area of East Street and Soldier Road.

Later, at about 1.30am, officers responded to calls about a traffic accident on East Street South. When police arrived on the scene they discovered an off duty police officer inside an extensively damaged vehicle. He was suffering from a gunshot wound.

While police reported both incidents in its weekend crime report, no connections were made between them in the initial report.

However, this newspaper has been informed by a source that as the woman’s assailants abandoned her in the area of East Street and Soldier Road, the off duty police officer had been driving in the same area.

It is believed that the abductors thought the officer saw them leaving the woman behind and followed him.

They chased the officer who eventually crashed, The Tribune was told. He was then shot to the elbow, which ruptured a major artery in his arm, the source said. He has undergone surgery and remains under medical observation.