Cops in stand-off with 'Blackie' - Eccles guest house scene of gun battle - woman, soldier shot Stabroek News February 9, 2000 Residents of Eccles were up to press time this morning in the midst of a high-calibre shoot-out between police and a man strongly suspected to be Linden London also known as `Blackie'. Up to 3 am this morning, the police were still trying to flush the man out of the Toucan Guest House in Second Street, Eccles and a woman was believed to have been shot in the crossfire. Unconfirmed reports say that the woman was shot several times and had died. She has been lying motionless near the door to the guest house for several hours. A soldier was also injured by gunfire emanating from the guest house and was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital this morning. The extent of his injuries are not known. Six hours after the operation began at around 8.30 pm last night, two members from the police `Black Clothes' squad were still stationed in the verandah of the guest house armed to the hilt and firing continuously into the building from which the man had returned fire occasionally and had also reportedly lobbed grenades. The police were also throwing what appeared to be concussion grenades into the building. Dozens of policemen and soldiers were involved in the operation to flush out the gunman and tear gas was used but apparently had no effect. At one point just after 11 pm, the police dramatically set fire to the guest house by dousing it with gasolene. However, the concrete structure did not catch afire despite one room being burnt and there was speculation that the gunman might be extinguishing the fire from within. Just around the time that the fire started the fire brigade arrived but were not pressed into action. In the meanwhile, Police set up barricades to control crowds and residents of the area who arrived home late were being denied entry to their places of abode. When Stabroek News arrived on the scene shortly after 9 pm policemen had set up road blocks at strategic points and were exchanging fire with the gunman who it is believed checked in to the establishment sometime on Monday. Residents of the neighbourhood especially in the immediate vicinity had to evacuate their homes as the tear gas invaded their surroundings and choked occupants. The scene of the stand-off is crawling with ranks from various divisions of the force who are trying to force the gunman out of his location. There were hundreds of onlookers and other persons who were unable to get into their homes in the area and road blocks were thrown up by the police along the East Bank. Observers were questioning this morning why there was no attempt by the security forces to storm the building after it had been surrounded for so many hours. Earlier last week, the police told Stabroek News that they were taking seriously a call by someone purporting to be `Blackie' to a call-in programme on NBTV Channel Nine. They said that they had traced the call to Peter's Hall on the East Bank of Demerara and had held a woman and her son for questioning in connection with the call. According to a source, the woman admitted making a contribution to the programme but denied that London or any other person had used her phone to make a call. The caller, identifying himself as the wanted London had offered to speak with the host of the show via a telephone number which would have been given off the air. London has been on the run from the police and has been sought in connection with two spectacular robberies which convulsed the city over the last six months. The first was the America Street cambio robbery on September 22, 1999. In this raid, four heavily armed men carted away millions of dollars from D.Singh and Sons cambio. In the melee, five persons were injured - including an off-duty policeman - after the bandits indiscrimately sprayed the area with gunfire as they sped away in a car. The police chased them to a canefield on the East Bank of Demerara and one of the bandits, Terry `Rusty' Madhoo was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the police. Despite cordoning off the canefield and mounting an all night vigil, `Blackie' and his accomplices eluded a police/army dragnet. Two men were subsequently charged for the robbery and the Preliminary Inquiry is continuing. Wanted bulletins were issued for London and another man by the name of Andrew Douglas. In the second incident, two men on January 11, 2000 attacked the National Insurance Scheme headquarters on Brickdam at about 0715 and carted off $13M. Machine guns and grenades were used to threaten the staff and `Blackie' was once again suspected. One man had gone into the office to pull off the heist while the other sat among pensioners waiting to assist. They escaped in a car driven by a third man. The police had said that `Blackie' was a suspect in the case and since then a man, Cecil Albert McDonald known as `Beast' was shot dead by police at Mahdia. He had been wanted for questioning in relation to the NIS robbery, for which no one has as yet been charged. (See tomorrow's issue for more on this story.) (Oscar P. Clarke)