MINISTER of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan has described the slaughter of travel agent Reona Payne as “a very, very unfortunate incident” and former army Captain Orwain Sandy should have been more civilised in his approach to a domestic issue rather than emptying his gun on the woman.

Sandy, who served as Special Assistant to the Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), went berserk on Saturday last emptying his gun on his reputed wife in First Street, Alexander Village, Georgetown. After committing the act, he surrendered to police custody at the Ruimveldt Police Station.

The Security Minister said on the sideline of the National Drug Observatories seminar held at the Ramada Princess Hotel on Wednesday morning, that although the solider used his service weapon to commit the act, “we still have to trust that service weapons will be used in the rules of engagement and what happened was obviously not in the rule of engagement.”

Ramjattan said introspection must be done on best practices and the GDF and Police Force will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
The police have confirmed that Sandy used his service revolver during the shooting. Police sources also related that the soldier had on one occasion lodged his firearm at the police station during a domestic dispute.

One source explained that the soldier had suspected Reona Payne was being unfaithful and was conversing with someone from overseas. It was reported that on Saturday, Sandy had planned to drop Payne off at her place of work when she received a phone call from the same person from overseas.

When the soldier questioned her and asked her to desist from railroading their relationship, she became abusive and an argument ensued, and in the vicinity of the masjid in First Street, Alexander Village, Reona grabbed the soldier’s firearm and threw it out of the car.
According to the source, Sandy stopped the vehicle to retrieve the weapon and Payne exited too, and after picking up the gun he fired in her direction emptying the entire magazine.

The Chief-of-Staff has ordered the Inspector-General of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF)to conduct a Board of Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The GDF sought to assure Guyanese that Sandy’s action does not mirror the behaviour of other soldiers.