Channa bombs lobbed at lawmen, school burnt

– three shot, arsonists caught, soldiers hit in ‘friendly fire’

Two suspects in the Sunday morning torching of the One Mile Primary School have been arrested by residents of Linden and three protestors were shot with pellets, on a day when protestors lobbed channa bombs at the police and two soldiers were hit in ‘friendly fire’, as the unrest in the mining community shows no sign of ceasing.
At about 03:15h Sunday, police said the One Mile Primary School at Wismar, Linden, was completely destroyed by fire. Investigations so far have revealed that the security guard on duty was approached by three men armed with cutlasses who threatened to kill her if she did not remove from the location, or if she attempted to raise an alarm.
The guard left the compound after which the building was broken into and computers stolen and was later seen on fire. Once again, the Guyana Fire Service fire tender could not get to the scene of the fire owing to the blockages that had been placed along the roadways by protestors. Later in the day, residents of the Linden community brought in and handed over two men to the police at Wismar Police Station, who they claimed were suspects in the attack on the One Mile Primary School. The two men are in police custody assisting with the investigations.

Soldiers guard a section of the road at Wismar which they managed to clear during their ongoing operation in the community

Additionally, police said Sunday morning, the Joint Services began clearing blockages set up by protestors at the western end of the Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge, along Burnham Drive, Half Mile, One Mile, Wisroc, and along a number of adjoining cross streets in the Wismar area. During the clearing of the blockages, the police had to resort to the use of tear smoke to disperse large unruly crowds of persons who were in the process of preventing the Joint Services from removing the obstacles. According to the police, while clearing blockages along the roadways in the Wismar Old Housing Scheme and One Mile areas, large crowds of persons confronted the Joint Services ranks and began throwing Molotov cocktails and missiles at them, which included bricks, bottles and pieces of metal. The police resorted to the use of tear smoke grenades, some of which were picked up by the protestors and thrown back at the Joint Services ranks.

Channa bombs
Molotov cocktails thrown by the protestors damaged one of the machines used by the Joint Services to clear the debris, and one of the rank’s uniform caught afire but was quickly put out. The police were forced to use shotgun pellets to disperse the very hostile crowds, and so far reports indicate that three men have been injured.  They are Ray Wills, 57, of Wismar Old Housing Scheme, who was injured to his right foot; Marlon Richardson, 19, of Victory Valley Hill, who was injured to his right foot and Michael Wills, 24, of Wismar Old Housing Scheme, who was injured to his right thigh. They were taken to the Mackenzie Hospital by the Joint Services ranks where they have been admitted for medical treatment.
In addition, two ranks of the Guyana Defence Force were accidentally hit by pellets and received injuries to the face and the hand, respectively. They have received medical attention and have rejoined their unit at Linden.