Police who responded were underprepared - McDonald
Thought they were dealing with isolated robbery
Stabroek News
July 23, 2002
Acting Commissioner of Police, Floyd McDonald has acknowledged that the policemen who responded to the bandit siege of Rose Hall yesterday morning, which resulted in the killing of two cops and a teenager, were underprepared.
This was because they had based their response on information that an isolated robbery was taking place at a Chinese restaurant.
Following yesterday morning's mayhem, the police held a wounded man whose identity was yet to be ascertained. The man was found with gunshot wounds yesterday morning and told the police that he was going to visit his uncle in New Amsterdam.
McDonald told a press conference yesterday afternoon that the police have not confirmed the reason for the man's presence in the area at the time.
Two policemen, Constables Outar Kissoon and Ramphal Pardat were shot dead by armed robbers who were engaged in a two-hour shooting spree early yesterday morning in Rose Hall, Berbice.
Balram Kandhai aka Bolo, 17, of Golden Fleece, Essequibo Coast, was shot by the same bandits as he and a group of others made their way to the place they were staying following the People's Progressive Party's (PPP) Congress which concluded hours earlier in nearby Port Mourant. Kandhai was a delegate at the Congress.
General Secretary of the PPP, Donald Ramotar, stated yesterday at a press conference that it seemed more than a mere coincidence that the incident involving Kandhai occurred when it did. He pointed out that it was publicly known that the Congress was taking place. Ramotar said the party was still investigating the incident and would be making a more detailed statement later.
Recounting what happened, the Commissioner said at that around 00:30 hrs yesterday, Constables Chaitram and Pardat were on duty at the Rose Hall police outpost when they heard a commotion emanating from a Chinese restaurant to the west.
The more senior Constable Pardat sent Chaitram to the restaurant to get the proprietor to lower the music. It then appeared that one gunman entered the outpost and forced Pardat over to the restaurant.
McDonald said reports stated that afterwards, Constable Pardat entered the restaurant, fully dressed in uniform, with a gun pointed to his head by a man dressed in bulletproof vest and short pants. At that stage Constable Pardat told Constable Chaitram to hand over his .32 revolver to the gunman. The bandit proceeded to rob Constable Chaitram and patrons in the restaurant of gold jewellery.
The gunman took the two constables and the proprietor of the restaurant to the Rose Hall outpost and placed them, with the exception of Constable Pardat, in the lock-ups with another prisoner.
He then damaged the communications set before leaving with Constable Pardat and attired in Constable Chaitram's police shirt. It was at that stage that eight other heavily armed bandits joined their colleagues, the Police Commissioner added.
McDonald said one of them had at least four revolvers in his possession. They then proceeded on a murderous crime spree.
First, they took two persons as hostages and went to the National Bank of Industry and Commerce where they took away a .32 revolver and a hand-held communications set.
They then proceeded to the Guyana National Cooperative Bank where they took away a .38 revolver from a security guard.
Meanwhile, McDonald said, Constable Chaitram was able to free himself from the lock-ups and he telephoned the Albion police station where he reported that there had been a robbery but did not provide sufficient details.
Commander of the division, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ovid Glasgow, who was in the area, responded together with an anti-crime patrol and immediately came under intense machine gun fire. The commander barely escaped unhurt, McDonald said.
He conceded that the police who responded were not prepared for an attack of that magnitude because of the impression that they were dealing with a robbery at the restaurant only.
It was during this exchange that constable Kissoon was shot in the head and died, the Commissioner said.
He added that Constable Kissoon's SLR rifle could not now be located. He disclosed that Lance Corporal Williams was hit in the leg and hospitalised. During this period the sound of heavy gunfire filled the air.
Reinforcements were then called up. They included the Tactical Services Unit and other squads from Berbice. The bandits by this time had fired several shots at one of the banks.
Afterwards, they went to the home of Mohamed Afiz, a businessman, and used a chainsaw to cut through the wall and entered the building. They took away 95 rounds of .32 ammunition, US$85 and a few other items. Not satisfied, the bandits went to Afiz's brother who resided at the back, and assaulted his family. They got in the house by the same method-using chainsaws to cut through the building.
This family was robbed of $500,000 in cash and $100,000 in jewellery. McDonald said Kandhai was passing at this time in a 4x4 vehicle taking home delegates from the just concluded PPP Congress. The vehicle was fired upon and he was hit. McDonald said the police suspect that the vehicle was mistaken for a police vehicle.
A passing hire car was also fired at. Later, a guard at Laparkan was involved in a scuffle with two of the bandits and he received head injuries and had to be hospitalised.
Meanwhile, Constable Pardat was still being held hostage by the gunmen along with five others including a fisherman.
The shooting continued until 2 am when the bandits reached the seashore one mile away from the main road and escaped.
McDonald said the police were hampered by the terrain which he said consisted of swamp, shrubs and bushes. He said it was felt that if they had gone into the bushes there would have been more police casualties.
Later in the morning, the police managed to access the area, only to find the shot body of Constable Pardat about a quarter of a mile away from the seashore.
The police suspect the bandits left the area using a boat.
"We're not sure how they arrived at the location and how long they were in the area but we are certain they are not from the vicinity of the Corentyne," McDonald said, stating the bandits left in the area heading west.
The police recovered a number of spent shells from the scenes of the shootings including 7.62, 9 mm, 5.56, .32 and .38 shells.
Two black toques and black jerseys were also found.
Assistance was received from the Guyana Defence Force in checking the seashore but there was no sighting of the criminals.
McDonald said protocols have been worked out with the army for given situations. Bandits have escaped by sea in previous assaults and there had been criticism of the police and the army for not ensuring better coordination.
McDonald explained that if the units are in an operational mode a joint command centre would be set up at the specific location.
If there is an isolated incident the senior officers of both agencies would liaise with each other to carry out an operation. When there is an emergency, the operations rooms of the army and police could coordinate at their level, McDonald said.
The Commissioner stated that international assistance was not required at this time since the efforts to capture the criminals are intelligence-based.
He noted, however, that there were resources which the police did not have which would bring an earlier closure to the situation such as protective gear and weaponry.
He disclosed there were some instances, which he did not want to mention, where the task to capture the criminals was being made difficult.
The Commissioner stated that no danger was posed to the two-day PPP Congress which had concluded the evening before. He pointed out that the attacks commenced over six hours after the Congress concluded.
He said the all the police officers and ranks in Berbice were on the alert during the PPP congress.
Additional ranks were sent into the area to provide support.