Gunmen nabbed at restaurant – one shot
Gunfire erupted at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, at around 16:45 hrs yesterday, with police shooting one suspected bandit and capturing two others after cornering the heavily-armed men in a Chinese restaurant that they were reportedly planning to rob.
Odinga Allen, 23, of Buxton, East Coast Demerara, was shot in the right knee,
allegedly after opening fire on the ranks. He has been placed under police guard
at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Police identified the two other suspects as Elroy Newton, a 33-year-old former army corporal of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara, and Leon Howard, 23, of Friendship, East Coast Demerara.
Newton was also reportedly treated for abrasions he received during the
confrontation.
Police also recovered a Keltec 9mm. sub-machine gun with nine rounds and a .38
revolver with two rounds from the suspects.
Kaieteur News understands that police had received information that the men were planning to rob the restaurant owners.
The suspects were reportedly brought to the scene in a car but the driver apparently fled after the intended plan was interrupted by the arrival of the police.
UNSOLVED crimes
The restaurant proprietrix, who has been living in Guyana for the past 10 years, told Kaieteur News that she was preparing to serve beers to the suspects when the drama began.
“They were buying beers and the police come, and when I hear a gunshot I run inside and lock the door because I frighten…I don’t know nothing else.”
Residents were reportedly sent scampering for cover after the gunfire erupted.Kaieteur News confirmed that Newton, an ex-soldier, was charged in June 2010 with robbing Safraz Khan at gunpoint of $2M.
He was said to have been a serving
corporal in the Guyana Defence Force for 13 years, and was attached to the Joint
Services Special Operations group. He was released on $65,000 bail.
This newspaper also confirmed that Allen was charged in May 2011 with robbing
Anupya Baburam at gunpoint of $80,000, two cell phones worth $27,000 and $7,000
worth of phone cards. He was also charged with possession of an unlicenced .38
revolver and four rounds of ammunition.
The then 21-year-old accused was remanded. The incident at Coldingen comes in the wake of two other brutal robberies this week in which a security guard and an East Coast Demerara resident were slain and a businessman wounded.
On Sunday night, Tyrone Budhu, 31, was gunned down by bandits who had attacked him and his girlfriend near the Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara seawall.
The following day, 72-year-old Victor Da Silva was shot dead and 71-year-old gas station proprietor Cecil Albert wounded after bandits ambushed them in the vicinity of Water and Cowan Streets in Kingston.
Friday, July 12, 2013