The police have recovered the car used to carry out Sunday evening’s attempted robbery outside the Demerara Bank at Camp Street and South Road, during which a Professional Guard Service (PGS) guard was shot and two others were grazed by bullets.
In a statement issued yesterday, the police said the car was found in D’Urban Backlands and it bore evidence of exchange of gunfire.
Apart from this recovery, a source revealed that fingerprints were taken from the car, in which a quantity of spent shells was found. Ballistics testing is to be conducted on the spent shells.
The incident occurred around 23:45 hrs on Sunday and the police described the actions taken by the three PGS security guards as courageous.
According to the statement, the security guards, two men and a woman had just collected various amounts of cash for night safe deposits at the Demerara Bank and while in the process of exiting their armored vehicle, criminal elements in a motor car drove up and opened fire on them. “The security guards adopted tactical positions and returned fire, after which the motor car sped away,” the police said.
Meanwhile, this newspaper had reported that one of the guards who was identified as Michael De Clou, sustained a single gunshot wound to his thigh. He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hopsital by his colleagues where he remains a patient in a stable condition. The other two who were grazed by the bullets were treated and sent away.
One of the guards had related to this newspaper that they had just picked up a deposit from the Royal Castle fast food restaurant on Sheriff Street and were making their way to deposit the money at the Demerara Bank when the incident occurred.
The security officer said they noticed a vehicle trailing them and suspected that it was robbers. When they arrived at the Camp Street location, the trailing car slowed down behind them and suspecting that they were about to be robbed all the other guards in the vehicle armed themselves and proceeded to open the door with caution.
On seeing one of the occupants of the car with a gun, they fired a warning shot but it was met with a volley of gunfire, seemingly from a high-powered weapon.
Another security guard, who is employed on the opposite side, where the Citizens Bank head office is under construction, had said he was carrying out an inspection of the premises when he heard the gunfire.
He explained, “I hear like two soft shots first, then bullets like fuss time. I ain’t even count, but it was high powered weapons…I know because I is a old police. I run and hide and when it done I come out and peep. Them taxi boys who is deh round de corner pon South Road they run to help the guards them and they take the girl and the boy to the hospital in the same armoured van.”
