In the aftermath of an explosive gun battle between gunmen in Buxton and soldiers on Wednesday night, Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Commodore Gary Best yesterday declared that the fight is not yet over with the criminals in that East Coast community.
It was mayhem on Wednesday night in the East Coast community as the gunmen engaged the soldiers in a 20-minute-long shoot-out which resulted in the death of Corporal Ivor Williams of Dartmouth Village, Essequibo and injuries to GDF private, Cohen Torrington of Agricola, East Bank Demerara and Thelma Cromwell of Friendship Railway Embankment, ECD.
Williams is the second soldier to die in Buxton on duty since the violence broke out on the East Coast following the escape of five prisoners from the Georgetown penitentiary in 2002. Up to press time last night there was calm in Buxton and Best said that the army withdrew its troops around 9 am yesterday after clearing debris which was dumped on the roadways by criminal elements.
The GDF said in a statement yesterday that at approximately 8:45 on Wednesday night a GDF vehicle returning to Camp Ayanganna from Berbice during an administrative run was ambushed by several armed men on the Railway Embankment Road between Church of God and Company roads. According to the army statement the soldiers returned fire and Torrington was injured during this confrontation. The army further stated that reinforcements were subsequently deployed to the area and they came under heavy gunfire on the railway line. It was during this firefight, the army said that Williams was fatally shot. He was immediately transported to the Georgetown Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival, the GDF statement said. It added that Torrington who suffered gunshots to his right chest and left hand, is presently in a stable condition at the hospital. The army said that ranks from the GDF and police at 6 am yesterday cleared the Buxton Public Road of obstacles that were strewn across it and also conducted patrols to ensure the free and safe movement of traffic through the village.
Analyzing
Meanwhile, speaking to the media yesterday afternoon after a function at Camp Ayanganna Commodore Best said that he could not say off hand whether the GDF would re-establish its camp aback of Buxton. The camp was closed last year. He said they were analyzing all information in relation to the incident on Wednesday night.
There had been reports that wanted man Rondell Rawlins might have orchestrated the attack on Wednesday having purportedly contacted the police at the Criminal Investigation Department on Wednesday threatening to create havoc if Tenisha Morgan, a Buxtonian teenager who went missing last Friday is not returned. Best said he could not say whether that was indeed the case and whether there was any connection between Rawlins’ alleged threats and the shooting. He said what is clear however is that the criminal elements in Buxton have decided to ratchet up their operations and the GDF came out not so good. “It is a firefight and we have a casualty based upon that firefight, but that fight is not yet ended,” said Best.
Asked why the gunmen have revved up their operations, Best said the army was still processing all the information they had. The Chief of Staff also noted that yesterday he met with relatives of the dead man and visited Torrington in the hospital. On how many gunmen the men in green were up against, Best said the numbers vary from 15 to 25. He said the gunmen were engaged in urban warfare, something the army was prepared to handle but was conscious of civilian casualties.
“They are hiding among the population”, Best said, noting that they also have sympathizers. “When we go out people come out and demonstrate and the gunmen also shoot from crowded corners so that limits our responses.” He however assured that the gunmen would be captured, asserting that they will wear them down.
An eerie calm prevailed in the crime-besieged communities of Buxton and Friendship yesterday when Stabroek News visited. Residents who spoke to this newspaper said that the situation was still tense and many persons were afraid to venture outdoors.
Threats
Police had released a statement earlier Wednesday saying that Rawlins had issued threats to ranks at the Criminal Investigation Department over the missing girl. Stabroek News was told that the fugitive allegedly told the ranks that he was giving them until 6 pm Wednesday to return the woman or else there would be mayhem. Reports reaching this newspaper state that from as early as 4 pm on Wednesday scores of rifle-wielding men had lined the Buxton embankment. According to one source in Buxton since the disappearance of the teenager, several other gunmen were rushed to the troubled East Coast community from other villages. Police said they had upped security arrangements on Wednesday night to avert any threat from Rawlins and his men.
Giving an account as to how the shooting occurred a soldier told this newspaper that sometime after 8 pm on Wednesday a jeepload of soldiers travelling from Berbice to Georgetown stopped in Buxton on the railway embankment after observing a group of men smoking ganja. According to reports, once the soldiers halted their vehicle gunmen who were apparently in the group of smokers unleashed a fusillade, hitting Torrington and forcing the lawmen to climb back into the vehicle and speed out the village. Stabroek News was told that it was while scrambling to escape from the gunmen that one of the soldiers fell off the tray of the pick-up with his AK 47 rifle and a flak jacket.
Reports reaching this newspaper state that the gunmen apparently did not take note of the soldier who fell off the tray as they themselves ran after shooting at the men in uniform. Stabroek News was told that the soldier who fell out of the jeep is a resident of Buxton and he ran to the house of someone he knew and contacted his colleagues at Camp Ayanganna. By this time the vehicle that came under attack reported to the army headquarters what had happened and ranks from the army Special Forces unit were rushed to the community. This was around 9 pm, one resident told Stabroek News. This newspaper was told that the gunmen apparently anticipated that the soldiers would have reacted and some 20 of them formed a 50 metre ambush. It was at this point Williams was mortally wounded after being riddled with bullets.
Worst
Celis Graham, an elderly resident of Friendship, Railway Embankment said that she had experienced many shoot-outs between gunmen and the security forces but Wednesday night’s was the worst. “I never see anything like this,” Graham said noting that she and her household slept on their carpet for the entire night. She told reporters yesterday that she had retired to bed early Wednesday evening when at about 8 pm she heard gunshots ring out not too far from her. Being accustomed to virtually living in what she termed a ‘war zone’ Graham said she and her household prepared for the worst. She said after the initial burst of gunfire, everything subsided but about 45 minutes later there was another eruption, this time much closer to her home. “I ran out of my bedroom, me and my daughter and we all went on the floor,” the elderly woman said. She said as she lay on the floor, she heard heavy gunfire. “It was like a real war here