Some persons who were taken into custody following the shooting of a Fyrish resident have been released, including a man who sold a house to two men who are wanted by Suriname authorities.
Reports are that the men had been living in the one-bedroom wooden and concrete house at Chesney Scheme since last November. They had purchased it from the resident for $850,000.
According to residents, the men were “tolerated” in the village because no one knew of their backgrounds. They said too that the men “never interfered with anyone.” Reports are that they also have a lot of relatives in the area.
Some of the residents said they later learnt that the duo was reportedly part of a “big gang and members are dispatched all over” but they never made any report to the police. The men, who allegedly committed robberies on the Corentyne, were said to be “selling bags of weapons in the area” recently.
This newspaper learnt that the police were only informed about the men’s presence in the area after their pictures appeared in the April 23 edition of the Stabroek News.
After receiving information, a vanload of police made a sweep on the house on Wednesday but did not find the wanted men or anything incriminating. Two women who were in the house were then taken into custody. According to residents, the police should have done “foot patrols” while making the arrests because “the presence of the van and uniformed ranks could have alerted them and caused them to get away.”
After the arrests were made two gunmen, suspected to be the wanted men, opened fire in the area as 26-year-old Kevin La Fleur of Fyrish Village and his colleagues were passing. The bullets were also riddled at the home of Shabana Samad, 33, a member of the Neighbourhood Police Group and her husband, Narine Deonarine, 38.
Residents said the men looked exactly as they appeared in the photographs and they were convinced of their identity especially after they were heard “speaking Dutch.” Reports are that the men would visit shops and other places freely. They had even been assisting a couple on their farm and had reportedly been hiding their weapons at that location. Persons said too that the men sought jobs at a chicken farm in the area, but after working for one hour they quit because they “din able with the work.”
This newspaper understands that the men had sent a “message that they would burn down four houses in the area.” Residents told this newspaper yesterday that after the shooting the men went back to the house and collected some of their clothing and other belongings. They also said that police were patrolling the area all night on Thursday. It is alleged that the men tried to hang another man who was staying with them because he was a “snitch. They put him out from the top flat of the house and he was staying at the lower flat.”
Shooting
La Fleur, a labourer at the Albion Estate who came under a hail of gunfire, was shot in his right thigh and was admitted a patient at the New Amsterdam Hospital. He has since been discharged.
He was first treated at the Albion Estate Dispensary and police later took him to the Port Mourant Hospital before he was transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital. Oswald La Fleur said after his son was hit, he fell on the road while the others dropped their bicycles and ran for cover. The attackers continued firing even as they walked towards a house close to the street.
After the gunfire ceased, La Fleur ran to the dispensary where the estate’s security guard contacted the police.
Meanwhile, Samad recalled that between 10.30 pm and 11 pm, she and family had just retired to bed when they got a strong smell of gasoline in front of her liquor restaurant. She said her husband was about to leave the bedroom when rapid gunshots erupted, continuing for about 10 minutes. After it ended she contacted the police and they responded promptly but the men had already escaped.
It was only when her husband opened the door to the shop that they realised where the smell of gasoline was coming from. A mat in front of the shop door had been doused with the fuel and a small fire had started. The door was badly scorched and Samad felt that sand that had blown on the mat prevented the fire from spreading.
The two men are still at large and investigations are continuing.
