By Nigel Williams
Gunmen yesterday afternoon killed two Brazilian miners and injured a third during a robbery at a guest house on Regent Street before escaping on a motor bike despite police foot patrols in the city.
Dead are Silverino Pequeno Alves Junio, 45, a dredge owner who had been living in Guyana for the past five years and Francisco Lima, 46. Junio was shot in his head while Lima was hit in his abdomen. A third man, Jose Alenor Ovido D’Oliveira was gun butted and was treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital and sent away.
Police in a statement last evening said that the incident occurred around 1:10 pm. According to the police, investigations revealed that the men along with D’Oliveira and another Brazilian had earlier gone to do business at Pure Diamonds Establishment on East Street, Georgetown, where D’Oliveira collected $1.5 million. The Brazilians later returned to the Guest House where they were staying and were in the bar when one of the bandits entered and ordered an aerated drink, the police statement said. “While being attended to, he pulled out a firearm and attacked D’Oliveira, hitting him in the head with the firearm while taking away the bag with the money,” the police statement noted.
Alves Junio went to D’Oliveira’s assistance and was shot in his head, the police said, noting that upon seeing what was happening Lima ran out of the building to escape and was shot in the abdomen by the other bandit who was outside.
The two armed attackers then escaped on a motor cycle that was parked nearby. The police said the two men who were shot were rushed to the GPHC where Alves Junio was pronounced dead on arrival and Lima died while receiving medical treatment. D’Oliveira was treated and sent away, the police statement added.
When Stabroek News arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting a large crowd had converged outside the guest house. Members of the Guyana Police Force were also in attendance but detectives were finding it hard to relate to the Portuguese-speaking Brazilians.
Speaking to reporters at the scene of the shooting, the owner of the guest house, who asked not to be named, said that two men on a motorcycle rode up at the business place. He said one of them entered the lower flat of the guest house where he accosted D’Oliveira.
The owner said that at the time D’Oliveira had been carrying a pouch with around $2M which was snatched by the robbers. The gunman then lashed the Brazilian to his face with his weapon, causing him to collapse on the floor.
The owner related that while D’Oliveira was on the ground the second gunman whipped out his weapon and fired two shots, one hitting Junio to his head and the other drilling a hole in Lima’s abdomen. The gunmen then escaped on their motorcycle before members of the police arrived.
The owner said that he had been doing business in Guyana for several years now and had never been attacked. He told Stabroek News however that his business place was outfitted with security cameras and the gunmen might have been captured. Police collected the cameras yesterday and up to press time last night they were said to be analyzing the tapes.
Meanwhile, the owner of a small business yards away from the guesthouse told Stabroek News that she was sitting chatting with a friend when she heard the shots but mistook the sound for noises coming from Hanson General Store just opposite the guest house.
The woman said whenever labourers from the store offload heavy items from containers, loud sounds are heard and so she just felt that this was happening again. “But then I heard the sound again and I realize that it sounded like gunshots and it happen so quick because by the time I looked out I just saw plenty Brazilians staying at the hotel, running out on the road and some were crying,” the woman said.
She told this newspaper that she heard two shots. According to her only moments earlier the police foot patrols were seen in the area and stressed that they needed to focus their attention more on that part of Regent Street which she said became very desolate and lonely at certain times of the day.
“They got to be round here more because the last time 2J’s got robbed and only a little while before they were here and now this,” she added. Over the years a number of Brazilian-operated businesses have suffered attacks at the hands of criminals roaming the streets. There is a significant Brazilian population in the city connected with the mining industry.
