…when I looked at his face I saw anger- salon proprietress

CONTRARY to the much-publicised claim, even by the police and sections of the media, that businessman Deryck Kanhai monitored the movement of the police around the building with the use of his closed circuit television cameras while in the middle or upper flat of his three-storeyed building, the fact is that he did not.

Yesterday the Guyana Chronicle revisited the Middle and East Streets location. That junction was the centre of firepower drama for more than three hours on Tuesday as the businessman battled the police during a standoff after he gunned down two civilians and killed two police officers during the exchange of fire.
During that visit, the Guyana Chronicle was informed that the now dead businessman was in the lower flat of the building which houses a beauty salon. It was also pointed out that the man shot at the police even as the door to the salon was wide open.
The Guyana Chronicle was granted a walk-through of the middle flat of the building which is divided into two sections, one occupied by Deryck Kanhai and the other by his brother. While in the middle flat of the building a relative showed this reporter the extent of the damage to both of the apartments with shattered glass, televisions, wall pictures, ceiling, house hold appliances, home furnishing and the two 40’’ monitors which are usually used to monitor the CCTV cameras around the building. These were located in Deryck’s apartment and to which he had no access during the shootout on Tuesday.

The relative would not allow any entry into the man’s bedroom saying that it was off limits for the moment. This publication was unable to gather from family members what were some of the items within that room and what the extent of the damage was.
A walk through of the lower flat of the building was granted to this publication also. That section of the building told a story of a gun battle that raged for hours.
There was a wall that separated the salon from the lower flat of the man’s apartment which also has a stairs leading to the upper flat of the gunman’s apartment. There was a hole in that wall that was created by the police after they made another hole in the façade of the building next to the front door that leads to the man’s apartment. Those holes were to gain access to the salon since entering from the front door was very risky.
As the police made the holes and began closing in on the gunman, he retreated to an isolated section of the salon and closed an inner door. In that little enclosed room, there were more than one hundred bullet holes which the police labelled, beginning with the number one and counting.
Yesterday, the proprietor of the salon told this newspaper that she was in the salon attending to a customer when she heard gunshots and on peering out she saw the businessman with his gun in hand. She said that her initial thought was that the man was being attacked by bandits and she secured herself in a corner of the shop, but quickly removed herself after realising that she was seeking coverage from a wall which can be penetrated by bullets.
She said that she and her customer then ran into the washroom area of the salon and as they hid there, she saw the businessman peering in at them. She said that by that time she realised that it was the man who was doing the shooting.
The woman said that when she looked at the man’s face she saw anger and frustration and quickly ran out of the salon; and it was seconds after running out of the business without locking the door that the man ran around from the back of the building and entered the salon without closing the door behind him.
There were no television monitors in the salon that could have been used to monitor the CCTV cameras which were around the building. Those monitors were fitted in the man’s apartment in the upper flat.
This publication was informed that the police took away the firearm of the man’s brother, four I Pads, one unopened GPS, three cellular phones, gold jewellery, cash and ammunition from the middle flat.
Yesterday the man’s brother apologized to the people of Guyana and said that he was very upset at the actions of his brother because the people he shot were all innocent.
The Guyana Chronicle was also reliably informed yesterday that the man was in the habit of purchasing ammunition and stockpiling it at his home.

(By Leroy Smith)