TWO men were killed on Saturday night in a shootout with police as they attempted to carry out a robbery on gold miner Ravi Dookram at Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara.The Guyana Chronicle was informed that the men were about to pounce on the businessman, but the police acting on information staked out the area.
Subsequently, the police noticed two men in the area and challenged them and one of them began firing at the police who returned fire. Both men were injured and succumbed to their injuries.
The police recovered a .38 snub-nose revolver with two live rounds and two spent shells along with one 9mm round and two 7.62×39 rounds.
One of the dead men has been identified as Paul Bascom, called “Shine Buck” of Diamond Housing Scheme, while up to late yesterday the police were still trying to identify the other man.
Meanwhile, residents of the community yesterday said that the standoff between the police and the two suspects had put them in a state of shock, since they had never before witnessed such an occurrence in the community.
While the police reported that they encountered the men as they approached on foot, the evidence proved different. The compound of the businessman was filled with blood and the windscreen of a vehicle in the yard was shattered.
Residents claimed that the men were shot in the yard and then taken outside by the police, who later claimed that they had encountered the men who were approaching on foot.
The house is in a yard that is secured by dogs and has a fence almost 12 feet high and is the same place from where the men were removed, according to a woman in the area.