Ex-cop gunned down in Annandale
Attempted carjacking failed
By Edlyn Benfield
Stabroek News
October 29, 2002
Ex-policeman and Managing Director of Marjorie's Enterprise, Franklyn Solomon died yesterday from gunshot wounds sustained during what some say was an attempted car-jacking at Annandale.
According to reports, several men in a car who had earlier shot and killed two other men in another car, attempted to take Solomon's vehicle. In the ensuing tussle, Solomon was fatally shot and his car ended up in the trench. The gunmen then abandoned attempts to take his car.
Solomon called `Serpico', 46, died at around 10 am while undergoing emergency surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital for multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the right temple.
The dead man's sister, Diane Solomon, told Stabroek News her brother was on his way to their mother's home at 43 North Melanie Damishana, ECD, when tragedy struck at about 7:15 am. The victim's family received the sad news some fifteen minutes later.
This newspaper understands Solomon was shot when he stopped his white, Toyota Mark II car PHH 2850 and sent a female friend, travelling with him, to purchase something. According to the source, the woman was returning to the vehicle and saw Solomon covered in blood lying on the ground. The woman, an Annandale resident, started screaming and some of the persons gathered at the scene took her home.
Yesterday his sister Diane remembered her brother as "a loving and helpful manager to his employees and a devoted family member." She said he celebrated his birthday last Wednesday and it was only on Sunday that their mother, who immediately fell ill after learning of her son's death, had sent cake for him. Solomon had a cleaning contract with the Georgetown Public Hospital and was remembered as a pleasant easygoing boss by his employees.
His wife, Lynette, who lives in the United States with the couple's five children, has been notified and was expected to arrive in Guyana last night.
Shortly after midday, Stabroek News observed the dead businessman's Lot 1 Felicity, Happy Acres residence surrounded by several heavily armed law enforcement ranks wearing bulletproof vests. The premises appeared to be empty. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Department was unaware of this development and therefore unable to disclose any relevant information.
Besides his parents, Eileen Solomon-Noble and James Scipio, and other previously mentioned relatives, Solomon has left to mourn ten other siblings. On April 18, 1998, Solomon's brother, Malcolm McDonald-Noble, an ex-soldier, was murdered in Boa Vista, Brazil.