Wanted man, David `Colonel’ Mc Pherson, 42, was shot dead by police after he was cornered in a yard at Betsy Ground, East Canje around 10:20 pm yesterday. He had been sought in connection with a robbery at East Canje on Monday.
Police received reports that the man was hiding out among some bushes in a yard at Betsy Ground and they immediately surrounded the place.
Sources this morning said the officers pleaded with the man to surrender but he refused and reports are that he advanced towards a rank with a cutlass. Several rounds were then discharged and the man fell to the ground.
He was picked up and rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
An arrest warrant was issued for the man who had been sentenced to five years imprisonment in his absence for another offence.
Mc Pherson who was released from prison last December was said to be the leader of an armed gang that terrorized and robbed Berbicians of cash, jewellery and other articles.
Police had a close encounter with the man on Monday after he was spotted on a dam while police were in the area conducting a manhunt for two suspects who had just robbed a Canje businessman.
He managed to elude capture by swimming across a trench and headed towards the Canje Creek. Meanwhile police sources today said residents have been coming forward with information that the man had robbed them.
Five persons remain in custody following the robbery at Betsy Ground, East Canje on Monday. Businessman, Maurice `Bayee’ Sookraj, 58 was robbed around 7:30 am of cash as well as a quantity of articles including jewellery and electronics.
Residents said two suspects, known as `Blacks’ and `Duck,’ were seen running through the back street. Their descriptions fit those of the robbers given by the businessman.
Police recovered a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition, a crow bar, a knife, a black mask, a black wig, and a blow torch in an abandoned house.
They also found a part of a computer taken from Sookraj during the robbery as well as a bag with three pounds of marijuana.
