Led by acting Commissioner Leroy Brumell, police plan to meet with residents of Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara tomorrow to address their fears in wake of this week’s shootout between suspected bandits and lawmen.
The Police/Community Outreach meeting is scheduled to begin at 11am at the Meten-Meer-Zorg Primary School, in Kastev Housing Scheme, where the confrontation left one suspected robber dead on Monday.
Police Spokesman Ivelaw Whittaker said in a news release that Brumell, the Deputy Commissioner (Law Enforcement) Seelall Persaud, DSM, and the Divisional Commander of ‘D’ Division Assistant Commissioner Eric Bassant will be in attendance at the outreach.
Persaud explained to Stabroek News that community outreaches are a regular occurrence and he explained that in light of the recent attacks in the village there is still a lot of fear. He also said that the force has been getting mixed feedback from residents.
On Monday, in what police described as a foiled robbery, Kirk Bacchus, who was the suspect in a murder investigation, was shot dead at Tarla Dam, Meten-Meer-Zorg.
Two men, described as his accomplices, were arrested, while a fourth man, suspected to be Keifa Small, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the attacks, managed to elude capture.
Of particular to concern to some residents during Monday’s confrontation was a reported attempt by the fleeing men to enter the school compound, which was padlocked at the time. “There woulda been children all over so even if police had seen them the ranks could not have fired shots because the children was there,” a source told this newspaper, while saying that it probably would have been easy for them to hide as the children would have ventured into the yard on their break if gunshots had not been heard.
Small and his alleged accomplices have also been linked to the recent robbery and murder of Meten-Meer-Zorg grocer Zulficar Namdar on September 10.
Small is wanted by police for questioning about the murder, which occurred when about five gunmen invaded his shop and fatally shot him through the grillwork as he stood at the counter. Shop help Stephen Mohammed, 17, was also shot to his left thigh during the attack, while Namdar’s mother, Fazila Namdar, who was holding her three-year old granddaughter, was also assaulted by the men, who demanded cash and jewellery.
The gunmen managed to escape with at least $1M in cash. A gun that police said was recovered on Bacchus has been matched with a shell recovered from the scene of Namdar’s murder.
