A close friend and associate of Deryck Kanhai is claiming that last week’s murderous shooting rampage could have been prevented if officials had heeded his warnings against issuing the miner with a gun licence.
The man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Stabroek News that he had tried to advise police and other authorities against issuing his friend with a gun licence in the light of his previous actions, including when Kanhai shot himself in the chin with an unlicensed weapon in 2010.
One week ago, Kanhai, for unknown reasons, walked into the Crown Cabs Taxi Service, which operated from the bottom flat of his three-storey 312 Middle Street residence, and attacked several of its employees.
The taxi service’s dispatcher, Vanessa Williams, was reportedly cornered in a bathroom by Kanhai and fatally shot, while a taxi driver was shot twice to the abdomen. He was taken to the Georgetown Hospital where he remains a patient. Kanhai also managed to kill two police officers – Lance Corporal Michael Forde and Constable Sherwin Pantlitz – who were among the 70 plus officers who turned out to neutralise Kanhai during an over three-hour standoff that ended with his death.
Since the shooting, some of Kanhai’s neighbours have revealed that on multiple occasions the man had come out of his house and randomly discharged gunshots into the air. Also, in 2010 Kanhai had shot himself to the chin for unknown reasons. At time of the shooting, he was not in possession of a gun licence and the weapon he used was seized by police.
These testimonials have led to questions about why, after demonstrating such behaviour, was Kanhai issued with two gun licences. After the shooting last Tuesday, the police said that they had recovered a .32 pistol, a shotgun and a .22 pistol. He was not licensed to carry the .22 pistol.
Kanhai’s associate told Stabroek News that in 2011, he wrote to several officials and copied his correspondence to the police, after he learned that his friend had applied for and attained the right to legally own guns. He said that although he and Kanhai were friends and had known each other for decades, he was all too aware of how unpredictable and dangerous the man could be. He recalled the times when Kanhai discharged his weapon in the air in front of his residence and the time he shot himself in the chin. He also alleged that several years before he shot himself Kanhai had stabbed one of his brothers, who survived the attack.
Such behaviour, Kanhai’s associate said, should have made it clear to officials that he should not have been given the right to legally own a gun. Nevertheless, he learned in 2011 that the police had issued Kanhai with a gun licence. Upon learning this, he tried to do something about it.
He sent an e-mail, seen by Stabroek News, to authorities in September of 2011. He said that the email was copied to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) with the hopes that officials would have done a more thorough investigation of Kanhai’s life.
Instead, he said, Kanhai was allowed to keep his licence. He also said that someone who either saw or heard of the email he sent contacted Kanhai and told him that someone was trying to have his licence revoked. He told Stabroek News that during one of their conversations, Kanhai revealed to him that he learned from his contact that someone was trying to have his licence revoked.
Stabroek News wrote to the email address that Kanhai’s friend addressed his mail to, however there was no response up to yesterday afternoon.
Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell has acknowledged reports that Kanhai had a temper, while Crime Chief Seelall Persaud has denied knowledge of the man’s erratic past. Persaud said that as far as he knew the police had no knowledge of Kanhai having a temper or discharging rounds indiscriminately.
Persaud also said that as far as he knew, Kanhai had never been taken before the court for the alleged 2010 self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Seelall made these statements despite the fact that it was police who reported in an official release that Kanhai had shot himself in 2010 with a .357 Magnum. The statement also noted that Kanhai was not the holder of a licence for the gun.
Former police commissioner Winston Felix has used the opportunity of the shooting to stress strict adherence to Guyana’s firearms laws, and pointed out that the law is not being effectively enforced.
