QUICK response by neighbours and the police resulted in the saving of lives, while two of four gunmen were not so lucky. They were shot dead early Wednesday morning in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown. The dead bandits were identified as 21-year-old Adgar Blackman and 22-year-old Sherwaine James called “Tu Pack”, both of Tucville, Georgetown. The other two men escaped.

According to the police, at about 04:00 hrs on Wednesday, ranks responded to a report of a robbery in progress at the home of 47-year-old Arlene McLean of Pioneer Lane, South Ruimveldt Park,
Four men, three of whom were armed with firearms, had broken into the home and held up Arlene Mc Lean and her sister Ann Marie Mc Lean and took away cash and a cellphone. On arrival at the scene the police came under fire from the perpetrators who were leaving the building at the time. The cops returned fire. During the confrontation, two of the men who were pursued by the police ran into a yard at Reliance Place, South Ruimveldt Park, and took cover behind a water tank from where they continued to engage the police.
During the exchange of gunfire they were shot by the police and later pronounced Dead on Arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
The police recovered an unlicensed 9mm. Luger pistol with three matching rounds and an unlicensed .38 revolver with four matching rounds and two spent shells from the perpetrators.
The police said that the men were from a known gang which is involved in nefarious activities.
According to Assistant Registrar for Exams at the University of Guyana Arlene Mc Lean, the bandits came into her house forcefully through the glass door on the veranda.
“I put up a fight as they were pushing the glass door to come in, I received injuries to my face when one of them came in and pulled out a gun,” she lamented.
RUMMAGED
She said money and jewellery were stolen as the four bandits rummaged her house. Two other occupants inside the house were not injured.
In commending the police for catching at least two of the culprits, Mc Lean said the police were very helpful and she gave a statement and submitted a medical report to the station also.
Meanwhile, other reports revealed that neighbours noticed men scaling the fence at 15-16, Reliance Place, South Ruimveldt minutes after 04:00 hrs Wednesday.
They promptly made contact with the police who arrived minutes later. One of the bandits was standing on the roof of a duck pen in the yard while two others were looking for an entrance into the home and another acted as look-out in an alleyway.
At home at the time were 53-year-old Paul Morrison, who is a lecturer at the Government Technical Institute and his three children. Upon the arrival of the police, the bandits began shooting in their direction and back-up arrived swiftly cordoning off the area. However, unconfirmed reports say two of the bandits managed to escape the dragnet set by the police, but two others were left inside the yard where Mr Morrison lived.
CORNERED
Cornered, the two bandits released several shots in the air calling for Morrison to open the back door of his house,but to no avail. As the police closed in, the men desperately began looking around for an escape route, something which was not available at the time. The men took refuge in a black water tank that was on the lower half of a trestle.
“I heard a set of gun shots then the place got quiet,” Morrison told this publication. “After the shooting I went outside and I gave the police a cutlass to cut open the water tank.”
Police retrieved a 9MM and a .38 handgun from the scene.
Cheers of approval echoed after the bodies were removed from Mr Morrison’s yard. Some were shouting words of congratulations to the law-enforcement officers at the scene. However, police encouraged persons to stay in their homes as they combed the area looking for the other bandits.
Meanwhile, Morrison, who is a trained teacher, told this publication that he recognised the “brown skin man” who was shot by police as someone who had trailed him home last Wednesday.
Vividly recalling what happened, Morrison said last Wednesday he was in Gordon Street, Kitty checking on a piece of land that someone was trying to take away from him using illegal methods.
Recalling the scenario, Morrison said he knew the man was tailing him because he(Morrison) made many turns and detours on his way home and the same man who was shot, was riding a CG motorcycle. He followed him home, stopping to see where he lived
Other residents in the area disclosed that for the past week three houses were robbed in the neighbourhood and it was a relief that the bandits were removed.
One woman said around 04:40 hrs, she heard a barrage of bullets then 30 seconds after single shots, “and that is when they kill them, people getting rob too often, is about time some mother sit and talk to their children about finding work and stop robbing people, the government not allowing lawlessness no more, that’s a thing of the past”.

By Rabindra Rooplall