The two bandits who were fatally shot by police on Sunday night after committing a brazen robbery at Seaforth Street, Campbell-ville have been positively identified by relatives.
The dead men are Jamal Letlow also called ‘Gaza’, 22, a fish cleaner of John Fernandes Squatting Area, Georgetown and Shaquille Fraser, 22, a mason of Better Hope, East Coast Demerara and Lot 153 Lodge Housing Scheme, Georgetown.
Letlow had been fingered in an armed robbery committed on Christopher Persaud at John Fernandes Access Road, on October 25 last.
In 2014, the father of two had been shot by the police and later charged with stealing a gold chain valued $25,000 from a 14-year-old girl at High Street, Georgetown. In December 2015, he was also charged with the theft of a bike, which belonged to Shawn Edoo.
When Stabroek News visited his John Fernandes Squatting Area home yesterday, his mother Debra Letlow, was still coming to terms with the fact that he was dead.
According to the mother, it was hard to accept that her son was killed by police. He stated that if he had committed a criminal offence he should have been arrested and charged instead. The mother said she was still waiting for an official explanation from the police on the events that unfolded on Sunday night.
She said she became aware of the shooting, when she was informed of it by a friend of her son. She explained that the friend told her she should visit the hospital as her son had been shot. The woman said she immediately went to the hospital and on enquiring she was told by the police that he had succumbed.
She was taken to the hospital mortuary yesterday, where she formally identified his body. However, she said she did not have the opportunity to fully inspect his body for signs of injuries sustained, but she saw “a hole” in his head.
Debra Letlow told Stabroek News that while her son had brushes with the law in the past, he was never convicted of anything. “I don’t know if he was ever a part… [of the alleged crimes] when he leave home I don’t know what he does go and do,” the mother said.
However, she added, he used to work for “an honest dollar at the Meadow Bank Wharf as a fish vendor.” She lamented that life would never be the same, since he had become the breadwinner of the family after his father died three months ago.
Letlow was last seen on Sunday afternoon by his family before he left to go out.
Meanwhile, the family of Fraser, when contacted, declined to comment.
Letlow and Fraser were cornered by police in the vicinity of Campbellville Secondary School subsequent to the robbery. The men hid in the dark bushes and as police surrounded the area, they fired shots and the lawmen returned fire.
Police were in the area when victims of the robbery informed them of what had transpired and they pursued the bandits.
The police were informed that the men had scaled the fence of St Theresa’s Catholic Church which is located at Durey Lane and Stone Avenue, Campbellville and were hiding in there.
Sometime after 10 pm, shots rang out and ranks entered the schoolyard, collected one shot suspect and transported him to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
About half an hour later the other suspect fired at police and was also shot. As he lay wounded in the schoolyard a police team went into the compound and collected him where he was also taken to the GPH.
The victims of the robbery were all at a family gathering when the duo pounced and relieved them of their valuables which included cellular phones cash and jewellery.
“We had some family by us because we had a get together and all of a sudden two guys came to the gate and asked for Kevin. Someone told them nobody name Kevin live here and next thing I see they draw the guns and say to the people liming at the gate, ‘Nobody move’,” one of the residents of the Lot 53 Seaforth Street home related to this newspaper.
“One stayed at the gate and the other one came in the yard and started searching everybody pocket and purse. He collect everybody money and chains and wallet and because the place was open, went into the house and plug out the phones that were charging and gone with it. They fired two shots in the air and ran up the road in the direction of Durey Lane,” the man added.
Police said in a press release that an unlicensed revolver with five live rounds and a spent shell were recovered next to the slain bandits along with some of the stolen articles, which included five cellular phones, a chain and cash. Several spent shells were also retrieved at the scene of the crime.
