A trip to Andrew’s Supermarket on Aubrey Barker Street, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, to purchase ice for his wife’s birthday party went sour for a Guyana Defence Force (GDF) rank who was shot to his right leg and is a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
The soldier, Sayne George, on Sunday told Guyana Times he left his wife’s birthday party on Saturday night at about 21:00h with two of his army comrades. According to George his two co-workers had preceded him into the supermarket and as he was making his way to join them, he noticed four young men approaching the building, each armed with a hand-gun.
“They came over and said to us all who were outside that everyone should lie on the ground and that nobody should move. So I lie down on the ground and two went into the store while the other two remained outside,” George recalled.
He said that someone who was on the other side of the road discharged a round in the air, which prompted the two gunmen outside to run away shouting ‘police, police!’
He said following this he ran into the supermarket to get his friends and noticed one of the gunmen brandishing a gun and ordered him not to move.
“He fired two shots in my direction. One missed me and the other one struck me in my right leg. After shooting me he escape and then the police vehicle came and I was taken to the GPHC,” the injured man told this newspaper from his hospital bed.
George explained that he is unaware if persons inside the supermarket were robbed prior to his entrance. However, the few persons who were outside were searched by the two bandits that stood guard.
One of these persons outside was the proprietor of the supermarket, 39-year-old Saikque Andrews.
Guyana Times understands that two of the bandits arrived on motorcycles while two others approached on foot.
“They were right in the vicinity of the supermarket. And they are bare youths in their teens, like. They looked between 15 years and 23 the most. All of them had firearms, small arms, handguns,” the soldier added.
Police on Sunday said the gunmen escaped with jewellery and cell phones from the owner of the establishment.
A close relative told this newspaper that George had applied for a firearm licence but is still awaiting approval.
A source close to the injured GDF rank told this publication the Policemen at the scene woefully divulged that even if they had caught and shot the men they are fearful of repercussions they may face due to new policies being implemented in relation to shooting suspects.
When Guyana Times visited the Andrew’s Supermarket on Sunday, the proprietor was unavailable, and the staff on duty could not clarify the sequence of events that took place on Saturday evening.
The supervisor on duty, Mr Carter, told Guyana Times that he was not working when the incident occurred and that he was not briefed on the events in question.
However, it should be noted that the supermarket does have operational surveillance cameras and it is expected the footage from Saturday evening will be reviewed and handed over to the Police. This is however not the first time the Andrews Supermarket has been targeted by bandits. Last January bandits robbed and then escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Only recently Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan criticised sceptics over his much touted Gun Amnesty Programme. Flaunting his perceived ‘success’ with the programme, Ramjattan told another section of the media:, “I have tried it and obviously it is successful.”
During the Amnesty period, which was eventually extended, 142 ‘old’ firearms and 1700 rounds of ammunition were handed over to the Police. A large quantity of these weapons was handed over to Police at interior locations, thus showing that the illegal weapons in coastland areas are still afloat.
The Gun Amnesty initiative was launched as a means of allowing persons in possession of illegal guns and ammunition to hand over these without fear of prosecution.
In most cases, the guns and ammunition collected during an Amnesty are destroyed, but Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud stated that once the ballistics experts give clearance that the guns were not used in the commissioning of a crime, the Guyana Police Force can apply to the authorities to have them added to their stock.
The Police Chief explained that once a gun has been linked to an offence, the Police can and would reopen an investigation into the particular matter.
The Commissioner further stated that those who would have surrendered their illegal weapons during the Amnesty Programme will have absolute immunity. The immunity, however, only relates to possession of firearms, but not the crime it might have been involved in.
The period of Amnesty, which was scheduled to end on September 30 has been extended to October 14. (kristenm@guyanatimesgy.com)
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