As police grapple with another well-planned, deadly robbery one of the two survivors yesterday recalled how they were ambushed at a ditch filled with `dead sand’.
The two survivors of Monday’s incident, Dalton Walcott, 28, of Soesdyke and Glenmore Reeves, 48, are in stable conditions at the Georgetown Public Hospital. Walcott was shot in the right arm. Two MMC security guards Rodwell Clarke, 41, of South Turkeyen and Warren Hutson of El Dorado Village, West Coast Berbice were killed.
Reeves, who was the driver of the MMC vehicle, told Stabroek News yesterday that contrary to the police release issued after the incident he was the person who drove the vehicle away from the crime scene and not the bandits. Initial reports from the police had stated that the gunmen drove the vehicle some two miles away from where the incident occurred. Reeves related from his hospital bed that the vehicle was forced to slow down at the Sheribana Bridge – a mile away from the Sherima Crossing – where there was a ditch with ‘dead sand’. Reeves recalled that as the vehicle slowed up the men, all of whom were dressed like ‘Black clothes police’, pounced on them from the bushes. Reeves was grazed on the head by a bullet and shot in the groin. He recalled after being shot one of the men pulled him out of the vehicle after assuming that he was dead. Reeves said his other colleagues then decided to exit the vehicle and run for their lives and it was then they were shot. He told Stabroek News after the bandits vanished in the nearby bush he helped himself back into the vehicle and started towards Linden.
While some two miles away from where the incident occurred, Reeves said he saw a truck coming and decided to ask for help. He recalled being assisted by the other men in the truck. “When we reached to Linden it was about three ‘o clock and they took me to the hospital and then made a report to the police”, Reeves said.
In the wake of Monday’s incident, Executive Director of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association, Edward Shields said he is more concerned than ever about security for miners. Shields told Stabroek News that the route that was used by the MMC security men is frequented by miners bringing gold, diamonds and cash from interior locations.
“Over the years we have raised our concerns with the relevant authorities about security in the area but nothing much has been done
