Almost one month after the shooting to death of Peter Anthony Ogle, called ‘Skin Teeth,’ 46, of Bartica, Leon Gittens, called ‘Cow’, 24, of Albouystown and Quincy Alexander, 33, of Meadow Brook Gardens, by plainclothes police ranks in Prashad Nagar police investigators seem nowhere closer
to making any significant headway.
The men were killed in what Crime Chief, Seelall Persaud, described as a shootout.
When contacted last week, Persaud told Stabroek News that investigations were ongoing and that the matter is still being handled by the police’s Office of Professional Res-ponsibilities and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
Meanwhile, the families of the men said that since the incident, they have not been updated as to the state of the investigations.
A relative of Gittens yesterday said that she has not followed up the matter since his death. “Is police kill them so I don’t think this matter gon go anywhere, I just tired,” she said.
The men’s deaths have been shrouded in controversy as several sources, including the police, have rendered conflicting recounts of what transpired.
According to one man, who claimed to have witnessed the incident, four men arrived in a black car and three exited. He said that as the men were walking into the yard two private cars with men later identified as plainclothes ranks drove up. The three men were apparently ordered to stop and two were cornered as they fled behind the house. The resident said thereafter he heard gunshots. Ranks were later seen with a third man who they ordered to lie on the ground. Based on the accounts of residents the three men were unarmed.
The police, in their account said that on “Wednesday February 6, 2013, acting on intelligence garnered which indicated that some persons had planned to carry out a robbery on a residence owned by a miner at Premiranjan Place, Prashad Nagar, Georgetown, police ranks staked out the building. At about 10:05h, three men, two of whom were armed with firearms, entered the premises. Upon being challenged by the police, the armed men opened fire on the ranks who returned fire, hitting all three of the men.
“The injured men were taken to the GPHC where one of them was pronounced DOA, while the other two succumbed while receiving medical attention.
“A .357 Magnum revolver with 2 live rounds and a spent shell, along with a .32 Taurus pistol with 9 live rounds and 3 rounds that had snapped were recovered by the police.
The police also reported that Ogle was at the time before the court on two charges of robbery under arms, discharging a loaded firearm and possession of a firearm without licence. Leon Gittens was also said to be before the court on a charge of break and enter and larceny.
Contradictions also surfaced in relation to the amount of times each man was shot. According to police reports, the autopsies revealed that each of the men had been shot twice, while one of them may have been shot more than two times.
However, the families of the men, when contacted, told this newspaper that they were informed by officials at the Georgetown Public Hospital morgue that the men had succumbed as a result of gunshot wounds to the head. Ogle’s sister, in particular, had said that when she went to identify him after the shooting, she noticed multiple gunshots wounds across his body.
