Gunmen were waiting for cops -residents
Four police officers are in hospital after two gunmen opened fire on them early Saturday evening as they were investigating a suspicious looking vehicle at the back of Coldingen, East Coast Demerara.
The vehicle carrying the policemen burst into flames after the attack.
The four officers are Corporal Ray Gyness, 41, of ‘C’ Division, Constable Sherwin Alleyne, 26 of Campbellville, Ravi Omar. 24 and Marion Cruickshank, 21 both of ‘C’ Division.
Stabroek News understands that Cruickshank suffered gunshot wounds to the left shoulder, chest and thigh and is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) while Alleyne suffered multiple gunshot wounds and a compound fracture to the left femur. Gyness also has multiple gunshot wounds with a penetrating wound to the back and Outar is said to have suffered a gunshot wound to the head. They are in the High Dependency Unit ward of the hospital.
A police press release said on Saturday evening two gunmen opened fire on a police mobile patrol at about 1935 hrs (7.35 pm) behind Coldingen and also shot at the police vehicle, PEE 3286, setting it ablaze .
The release said that the ranks were at the time investigating the movement of a vehicle approaching a dam, not associated with vehicular traffic, behind Coldingen and as they drew close to a pump on a lonely dam the two gunmen, who were standing on the dam, opened fire on the patrol and fled into the night.
Reinforcements were called in and they were able to transport the injured officers to the hospital while the burning vehicle was later brought out from the dam and parked in the Vigilance Police Station compound. Investigations have commenced into the attack.
Yesterday, police officials were tightlipped on how exactly the incident occurred and a visit to the hospital where the men are being taken care of proved to be futile as they refused to speak on the incident.
Stabroek News understands that the officers were under strict instructions not to divulge any information on .the incident. Relatives and friends swarmed the hospital yesterday comforting the injured men and there was a heavy police guard.
This newspaper visited the area where the officers came under attack and was told by residents the two gunmen had apparently hidden in the area and waited for the officers.
According to residents, the police officers visited the area just prior to the attack and asked persons if they had seen the bandits or any suspicious vehicle in the area.
The bandits the policemen asked for were understood to be the five armed and dangerous criminals who escaped from the Georgetown Prison on February 23. They are, Dale Moore, Andrew Douglas, Troy Dick, Shawn Brown and Mark Fraser. Since the five broke out of prison the capital city and outlying areas have been under a virtual siege by bandits who have robbed and murdered.
According to the residents, the officers told them that they had received a call about a suspicious vehicle in the area which does not usually have that kind of traffic. The road is more or less a dirt track and one has to travel for quite some distance before arriving at the dam.
This newspaper was told by the residents that they had seen the car in the area but because it was dark they could not remember the number plate. They were unable to say how many persons were in the vehicle but stated that the occupants of the car disembarked the vehicle and were hiding in some bushes off the road waiting for the officer^.
One resident said that the police officers were returning to their vehicle after speaking to them when they came under fire. The resident recalled that they were forced to duck some of the bullets which whizzed past them.
“Some of the bullets look like a small ball a fire as it went over we head and we had to duck,” the resident said indicating that the gunmen were using high-powered weapons.
The resident could not recall where the gunmen’s vehicle was at the time and could not say how the men escaped.
When the police vehicle went up in flames all the residents fled indoors locking up their homes tightly. It was only after reinforcements visited the area and the injured were evacuated that residents ventured out of their homes.
Residents yesterday took the opportunity to complain about how they are being harassed daily by criminals.
One woman recalled that she was in her farm last week when two men, whom she said are known to be bandits, approached her and she was forced to drop everything ‘‘and I run for me life and they tek everything I lef behind.” The woman said that the bandits would steal cattle from residents in the broad daylight and there is nothing the residents could do.
According to the resident, another man who is building a home in the area was forced to give all the money he was going to pay his workmen with to two bandits who held him up at gun point.
The residents are calling for more regular police patrols in the area but also acknowledged that this would be burdensome for the police because of the difficult terrain. In recent months, the police have come under armed attack several times and two of their number have been killed. Police Superintendent Leon Fraser and Police Detective Harry Kooseram were shot dead in separate attacks. Earlier this month, two policemen were injured when their vehicle was fired at outside of Buxton.
Coldingen attack
Shot cop succumbs
Twenty-six-year-old police constable, Sherwin Alleyne, one of the four police officers who came under gunfire last Saturday night, succumbed on Monday night to the wounds he sustained.
Alleyne, who was said to have been shot in the leg and chest and suffered a compound fracture to his left femur, was initially in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) but was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit on Monday afternoon. He died sometime after.
The constable, who hailed from Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, had joined the force in 2000. He and his colleagues, Corporal Ray Gyness, 41, and constables Ravi Outar, 24, and Marlon Cruickshank, 21, all of ‘C’ Division came under gunfire on Saturday evening when they were investigating the presence of a suspicious vehicle at the back of Coldingen, East Coast Demerara.
A police release had stated that the ranks were investigating the movement of a vehicle approaching a dam, not associated with vehicular traffic. According to the release as the ranks approached a pump on the lonely dam the two gunmen, who were standing on the dam, opened fire on them. The vehicle in which the officers were travelling, PEE 3286, was set ablaze by the gunfire.
Residents in the area had told this newspaper that the officers visited just before the shooting and told them there were reports that bandits were in the area. The residents said they had noticed a strange vehicle in the vicinity, which they confirmed was unusual, since many vehicles did not traverse the area mainly because of the state of the road.
The residents had said that the gunmen were lying in wait for the officers and as they were about to go back to their vehicle, opened fire.
A release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said that the armed men “ambushed” the police vehicle and opened fire on them. In the release Minister of Home Affairs, Ronald Gajraj, extended sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the slain officer.
The release said that the minister, noting the growing disrespect for members of the police force, assured that every effort will be made to apprehend those responsible for Alleyne’s murder.
According to the release, early reports suggested that members of the February 23, gang of five prison escapees might be responsible. On Sunday, residents had said that the officers had stated that there were reports of the bandits being in the area, and they understood the officers to mean, Troy Dick, Andrew Douglas, Shawn Brown, Mark Fraser and Dale Moore, who escaped from prison and are said to be armed and dangerous.
Alleyne is the third police officer to be killed since the jailbreak. Superintendent Leon Fraser, who was a member of the Target Special Squad, was the first officer to die when he along with other ranks had approached an area in Soesdyke where the escapees were said to have been hiding. It was said that as Fraser and other officers approached a car, which was covered with branches they came under gunfire and he was fatally shot. Shortly after Corporal Harry Kooseram was shot and killed by a gunman a few minutes after he left his Bladen Hall home for his place of employment at the Vigilance Police Station. There has also been a spate of armed robberies and murders since the five escaped. Meanwhile, the three other officers are said to be in stable condition at the hospital. The police are continuing their investigations.
