A Golden Grove resident is listed as stable in the Intensive Care Unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital while one of his attackers is nursing a gunshot wound as bandits from the village of Buxton turned their attention to other villages on the East Coast of Demerara.

Mark Lewis called Diam, 33, of President's College Road, Golden Grove, was shot in his chest when bandits attacked a group of gamblers in the village.

The attack occurred minutes after the bandits who were moving on bicycle had robbed a shop owner and several other persons in the village of Victoria.

One of the bandits, 18-year old Aubrey St. Clair was accidentally shot by one of his accomplices during the Golden Grove robbery.

He is presently under guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital after giving investigators several names.

Kaieteur News understands that Lewis and a group of friends were gambling under a stall on Presidents' College Road, Golden Grove around 01:00 hour, when five gunmen rode past them.

No one paid heed to the men who had called out to one of the men under the stall.

“Dey hail up a man and den ride off. A bus de passing and dey hide from de light. De man wha dey hail up turn and tell we dat is dem Buxton man gone deh. Before we know anything de bandits turn back and come and stick up all ah we,” one resident told Kaieteur News.

The resident said that one of the bandits attacked one of the gamblers and tried to relieve him of his chain.

During a scuffle, a round went off.

“After de fuss shot, de bandit fire again and hit he partner, den he turn and shoot Diam who fall over board in de trench,” another eyewitness recalled.

Three other gamblers jumped into the trench when the shooting started.

The eyewitness said that one of the bandits, who was keeping guard on the road, went over to the wounded bandit and became agitated when he realized that he was shot.

“De one over de road holler, ‘oh s…, you shoot me buddy'. Den he try fuh put he pon he bike fuh ride away. But like de one wha get shoot couldn't stay up pon de bike, so dey try fuh carry he fuh put he in a vehicle,” the eyewitness said.

Lewis, who was bleeding profusely in the trench called out for help.

“He holler fuh he sister. He tell she how dem Buxton man shoot he. But one ah de bandits, who still been around go up to he and put de gun to he head and tell he, ‘Oh, is Buxton man shoot you?' He fire he gun three times but de gun didn't go off or else is dead Diam would'a dead,” an eyewitness told this newspaper.

“Dem men move like real soldiers. As fast as dey shoot, dey picking up de shells,” a resident who witnessed the entire ordeal from his window told this newspaper.

According to relatives, Lewis was robbed of close to $50,000, while several other gamblers were relieved of cash and jewellery.

By this time, the bandits became more preoccupied with trying to get their wounded colleague to obtain medical attention.

Kaieteur News understands that a minibus number BHH 317 was passing and was forced to stop when one of the gunmen stood in the middle of the road pointing his gun at the driver.

“He see de bus coming and turn to he partners dem and seh, ‘Y'all ain't get a bus yet'. Den he hold up de bus and put he partner inside,” the eyewitness said.

All the bandits boarded the bus and headed out of the village, leaving the wounded Lewis and other shocked residents behind.

Help was summoned and Lewis was subsequently taken to the hospital where he was immediately admitted.

This newspaper understands that he required five pints of blood after surgery.

Kaieteur News was told that the bandits dropped off their colleague at the hospital and immediately left without giving any information.

“Dey just bring he and dump he in a wheelchair and lef he,” a staff at the Georgetown Public Hospital told Kaieteur News.

When questioned, the wounded bandit who was shot in the abdomen, first gave his name as Anthony St. Clair, but security personnel later found a note in his pocket with his correct name.

There are reports that his accomplices tried to abduct him on three occasions.

At one time, they ran out of the hospital when confronted by plainclothes police officers, who were at the hospital at the time of their visit.

“De one who do de shooting went in de hospital, but de police was guarding he (St. Clair) didn't know was who, so he couldn't do nothing,” a relative of the wounded Golden Grove resident said.

Meanwhile, police who visited the scene yesterday morning recovered a 9mm spent shell and a warhead.

No one has so far been arrested as investigations are continuing.

Another car hijacked

Police are trying to trace a white Toyota Carina, PGG 3976, which was hijacked by three gunmen at around 22:30 hrs on Saturday at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara. The driver, Naimodeen Husain, was held at gunpoint and locked in his car trunk by three men he had picked up on Sheriff Street.

He eventually managed to escape in the vicinity of University of Guyana road.

Husain told Kaieteur News yesterday that he was in the vicinity of a Sheriff Street taxi service with which he works, when the three men stopped him and said that they wanted to be taken to Cummings Lodge.

He said that when they reached their destination, one of the passengers came out of the vehicle and stopped at a house as if he was asking for directions.

Husain realised that he was being hijacked when the man returned to the car and pressed a handgun to his neck.

Husain said that they relieved him of $15,000, his cellular phone and passport and then locked him in his car trunk. The carjackers drove to Turkeyen, where Husain managed to force open the trunk and escape, after the car slowed at a hump on U.G Road.

He said that he tried unsuccessfully to stop several vehicles, but eventually had to walk to the Plaisance Police Station to report the robbery.

The vehicle had still not been recovered at press time.

Two other vehicles were stolen under similar circumstances last week, and some police officials are concerned that this signaled a return of the carjackings that occurred during the 2002-3003 crime wave.

TOP

Gun-toting ‘passengers' rob driver

Gunmen struck on the East Bank of Demerara for the third time in five days, this time robbing a 31-year-old hire car driver at Grove, East Bank Demerara. Sookraj Rambarran, the victim, was relieved of $4,000 by three passengers who he had picked up at around 20:35 hrs on Saturday.

The gunmen also relieved a fourth passenger, Doodnauth Ramkellowan, of $10,000.

Kaieteur News understands that Rambarran first picked up Ramkellowan. Later, three other men entered his vehicle and requested that they be taken to Diamond Scheme.

However, when they reached Grove Housing Scheme, one of the men pressed a handgun to the driver's head and ordered him to stop.

The man and his other accomplices then relieved Rambarran and Ramkellowan of their valuables before fleeing on foot.

On Friday, five bandits, armed with guns and an icepack, fled with $70,000, US$30, one cellular phone, one wrist watch, $200,000 worth of jewellery and two bicycles after breaking into a Block X, Diamond Housing Scheme residence and tying up some of the occupants.

Police have since detained a 19-year-old Jamaican national, who was positively identified as one of the robbers.

On Tuesday, bandits, who were also armed with handguns and an icepack, stabbed businessman Arjune Jagir in the upper chest and struck his wife with a hammer after breaking into their home at Lot 7 Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara.

The men escaped with an estimated half million dollars in jewellery, cash and goods.