Father of shot Arima man wants thorough enquiry

Hanooman Jawahir, father of 22-year-old Jonathan Jawahir, is not convinced that his son took his own life and is calling on the police to investigate his death thoroughly.

Police say the younger Jawahir was liming with a 16-year-old friend near his house on Fifth Street, Peytonville, Arima at around 7 pm on Sunday when nearby residents heard gunshots.

They saw Jawahir bleeding from a gunshot wound to his head and his friend bleeding from his abdomen. Relatives took them to the Arima Hospital, where Jawahir died on Tuesday.

The teen is still being treated at another hospital.

Police said from their information, Jawahir was playing with a pistol when he accidentally shot the teen. They suspect he shot himself in the head out of panic.

They also suspect the neighbours who heard the gunshots took the gun from the scene.

Speaking with Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Wednesday, the elder Jawahir said while he heard the same story from people at the scene, he does not believe it and is calling on investigators to make further enquiries to find out what exactly happened.

"The whole situation is really puzzling to me," he said. "I want the officers to dig deep. I know my son and he wouldn't do that to himself. I don't know why they didn't seize the gun at the scene if they said that was the case."

Jawahir said Jonathan was a friendly, outgoing person who did odd jobs to support himself, and he was deeply pained by his son's death.

Jonathan's autopsy was postponed to Friday.