London's body positively identified - GIS Stabroek News February 10, 2000 A Guyana Information Services (GIS) report yesterday said Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj was present at the mortuary of the Georgetown Hospital at noon yesterday when a positive identification of the slain wanted man Lindon `Blackie' London was made. GIS also stated that the minister visited members of the police force and the army who were injured in the shoot-out between London and the armed forces on Tuesday night and yesterday morning and assured relatives of assistance in the further evaluation of a soldier who was shot in the head. Gajraj spoke with Private Lennox Harvey of the Guyana Defence Force who is hospitalised in the post operations section. The soldier was seen by Dr Madan Rambarran and Dr George Norton for a gunshot injury to his head which affected his left eye. Accompanied by Dr Rambarran, Director of Medical services, the Minister visited police constable Sherwin Smith who was shot in his right arm. X-rays revealed that a warhead was lodged in the arm. His condition is not considered life threatening and he was transferred to the Seamen's Ward. Gajraj also met with two other policemen who sustained body injuries during the night-long exchange of gunfire with London, who was killed in the confrontation with security forces yesterday morning at an Eccles apartment building. 'Blackie' dead! - 11 hour siege ends in hail of bullets - woman killed, three injured Guyana's most wanted criminal Linden London died in a fusillade of bullets yesterday morning as he emerged from his hideout after an 11-hour seige by the joint services with his hands up in the air and his clothes on fire. The spine-tingling, bullet-riddled drama at Eccles, East Bank Demerara also claimed the life of a woman who had been with London, popularly known as `Blackie', and injured two soldiers and a policeman. A release from the police Public Relations Office yesterday said that London was fatally shot during an armed confrontation with members of the joint services at the Toucan Guest House. There are conflicting reports about how Rhonda Forde, the young woman, met her death at the scene of the shoot-out. According to Commander of 'A' Division, Henry Greene, the woman's lifeless body was thrown from the building. At a press conference held yesterday afternoon, Greene said the police attempted to get at the woman, but were kept at bay by London who threw four fragmentation grenades, which exploded, at them. However, a source told this newspaper that after London realised that police were in and around the building, he opened the door of his apartment and pushed the woman out. According to the source, ranks saw the door opening and fired, hitting the woman. Forde was also reportedly shot in the back by London. The woman was said to have had about seven bullet wounds to her body. According to the release, during the stand-off two members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) were shot, one seriously in the head and the other in the right arm and a police constable on the right shoulder. The police had made several attempts to set the building afire to flush out London. Finally, at about 0655 hrs yesterday, after several armour-piercing grenades were launched, black smoke was seen billowing from the roof of the section of the building in which members of the joint forces were positioned. When it seemed as though the fire would go out once again, red flames began to lick at the woodwork inside the building. The flames quickly spread to the adjoining one in which London was. Members of the joint operation could be heard asking London to put his weapon down and come out. A voice from inside responded, "f---you." But as the buildings were engulfed in flames and thick smoke, the voice inside was heard asking: "Mac is that you buddy? Stand up let me see you" (an apparent appeal to a GDF officer who was on the scene at the time.) At 0717 hrs London emerged with his clothing on fire and his hands up and was cut down by a hail of gunfire. Unlike their last encounter in September 1999 when London, an ex-soldier, and others eluded their dragnet at the back of an East Bank Demerara canefield after staging a brazen robbery on America Street, the joint services were winners this time and could be seen pumping their fists in the air in victory and giving high fives. However, the premature celebration was halted temporarily as shot-like sounds came from inside the burning building, sending lawmen scrambling for cover. There was no explanation for this but it was suspected that live ammunition in the building had exploded. Retaliatory action was taken with the firing of another armour-piercing grenade into the inferno, leaving a hole about some three feet in diameter. Following the firing of the grenade, troops could be seen pumping their fists and slapping each other on the back. Police ranks could be seen lifting the body said to be that of London into the back of a grey cruiser and speeding off. The crowd, upon hearing that London was no more, surged forward, attempting to invade the crime scene. The police fired shots in the air to keep them at bay. The movie-style operation started at about 2030 hrs on Tuesday when dozens of Guyana Police Force ranks, acting on information received, swooped on the Toucan Guest House, at Second Street, Eccles, where London had checked-in on Monday. What followed could be described as a mini war where thousands of shots were fired, tear-gas canisters lobbed and grenades launched prompting residents to christen the East Bank community 'Little Kosovo.' London had, according to reports, rented an apartment which was strategically placed to afford sufficient defence. As the troops moved in, two Target Special Force officers, Senior Superintendent Steve Merai and Superintendent Leon Fraser, and a rank from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) climbed onto the verandah of a part of the guest house, north of where London was holed-up. Other ranks took up strategic positions around the building, utilising safe vantage points in houses in the area. Members of the GDF 31 Special Forces Squadron and some policemen lay in drains, crawling forward on their bellies in true combat style. Persistent gunshots peppered the usually quiet community and some persons at a beer garden close-by left in a hurry. Tear-gas was reportedly used by London and the police in the initial stages of the operation. The joint services ranks resorted to heavy firepower to match that being used by the former GDF special services officer-turned bandit, with the army firing armour-piercing grenades from a rocket launcher set up near the guest house. Joint services ranks kept up a barrage of shooting in what was a clear attempt to have London respond to deplete his ammunition. However, his gunshots were sporadic in comparison. Superintendent Fraser could be heard taunting the gunman. During quiet periods, Fraser was heard saying, "why you so quiet man." The officer was also heard asking London if the NIS (National Insurance Scheme) money was finished. London was suspected of being involved in the $13M January heist at the NIS. When London returned fire, Fraser again taunted him saying,"you sounding good, man." Thousands of rounds of ammunition were expended during the confrontation with the bandit. Several homes were damaged by scattered gunfire and families living near to the guest house were forced to either evacuate their homes or send their screaming children away. 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 indiscriminately 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 NIS headquarters on Brickdam at about 0715 and carted off $13 million. 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. Brave soldier may lose eye - two other Joint Services members injured The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) has lauded the courage of two of its members who stormed the building where Linden London was holed-up, but were injured when he opened fire on them. GDF Public Relations Officer, Captain Wycliffe McAllister, told Stabroek News yesterday that the GDF was called out at about 0130 hrs yesterday in support of the police who had London called 'Blackie' trapped in a building at Eccles but were unable to flush him out. Private Lennox Harvey was shot in the left eye and Corporal Lincoln Fraser in the right arm, when they entered the building. Another Joint Services member, Constable Sherwin Smith of the Guyana Police Force, was also hit in the right arm during the siege. Harvey using stealth and with great courage, McAllister said, had succeeded in forcing open the door of the room in which London was hiding when he was shot through the left eye. Fraser received a grazing wound to the right arm from one of the many bullets fired by London. Harvey was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital where he was treated by a team of doctors and was reported to be in a stable condition. Brigadier Michael Atherley told Stabroek News yesterday that Harvey was in danger of losing the eye. Harvey was due to undergo surgery yesterday. GDF had negotiated surrender The GDF, using troops from 31 Special Forces Squadron, the Auxiliary and the Second Infantry Battalion Reserve, Mc Allister said, was able to neutralise and bring the dangerously-armed London to a point where he decided to negotiate and cease fire. The GDF conducted the negotiation and was able to induce London to come out from the building, when he was shot and killed, the spokesman said. Mother of two killed in `Blackie' shoot-out Thirty-year-old Rhonda Forde told her reputed husband she was going to bible study on Tuesday evening and ended up dead during the shoot-out that night between the police and Linden `Blackie' London under unclear circumstances. Commander of A Division of the Guyana Police Force, Henry Greene, told reporters at a press conference yesterday that Forde's "lifeless" body was thrown out of the apartment building at Eccles where the notorious wanted man was ensconced during the exchange of fire. According to Greene, the police were kept at bay from the body by grenades thrown into the compound of the building by London at the lawmen as they attempted to get near. Other sources said she was pushed out of the building by London and the police opened fire when they saw the door opening, hitting her about the body. At the same time, the sources said, London returned fire and she was hit twice in the back. Forde appeared to have sustained seven bullet wounds about her body, the police said. She was the mother of two daughters aged 7 and 12. Forde, who lived at 145 Non Pariel Street, Albouystown, prior to her death, left the house earlier that evening, her reputed husband Dexter Dubissett told Stabroek News yesterday. Forde had indicated that she was on her way to bible classes with a friend but Dubissett said he observed that she had left without her Bible. Dubissett, also known as Decky, related that he arrived home around 1900 hrs after having a drink with some friends and did not see his reputed wife. He went to bed and awoke at around 0100 hrs yesterday and still she was not there. Unaware that part of Eccles had been transformed into a battlefield and that his wife was already dead, Dubissett said he got worried when Forde had not yet arrived home at 0200 hrs. Early yesterday morning he rode around to several of her friends inquiring of her whereabouts but no-one knew where Forde was. Dubissett said he returned home and there he was told by Forde's father that she had died in the shoot-out between London and the police. The distraught man revealed that he had been released from jail only eight days ago after serving a sentence and had no idea how his reputed wife ended up in the situation which ended her life. The news of Forde's death was related to her mother who resides in New York and she is expected in Guyana for the funeral of her daughter who has also left four brothers to mourn. `Blackie' dragnet caused havoc on East Bank road The East Bank Demerara Public Road, on Tuesday night and yesterday morning, was thrown into chaos as a result of roadblocks in the Eccles area during the police and army gunfight with wanted fugitive Linden London aka `Blackie'. The roadblocks which were thrown up a little after 2000 hrs on Tuesday night and spanned an area from in front of Kenricks Auto Sales in Eccles to the bridge linking Eccles and Agricola, saw many vehicles stuck in a traffic line which was forced to divert to the pot-holed filled Eccles Old Road. Workers, shoppers, schoolchildren and others who were all destined for Georgetown were forced to either return home or arrive late. Heavy trucks and vehicles which could not negotiate the precarious flour mill bridge were allowed to use the main road. However, they were accompanied on their journey by the sounds of gunfire which came less than one hundred yards from the road. The lines with the big vehicles started as early as 0400 hrs. This caused the situation to worsen as the smaller vehicles taking the old road were halted at the Agricola/Eccles bridge to allow the public road vehicles to pass. In addition, the terrible state of the road forced vehicles to crawl. Traffic police were hard-pressed to control the snail-paced lines which stretched as much as two miles in either direction of the roadblocks. In several instances, vehicles were seen to be still for several minutes. This was further compounded by the early morning rush-hour traffic which normally starts at about 0700 hrs. The situation, however, returned to some "normalcy" at about 1100 hrs yesterday. (Leonard Gildarie) Fortress-like building impeded London operation - police The fortress-like construction of the Toucan Guest House where Linden London was encamped was one reason why, according to the Police, he was able to hold police and army units at bay for around 11 hours on Tuesday night and yesterday morning. Another reason, Commissioner of Police Laurie Lewis gave for the lengthy stand-off at a noon press conference yesterday was the amount of weaponry and ammunition which London known as `Blackie' had at his disposal. But despite the fortress-like conditions, Lewis said that waiting it out was not an option since if he had gotten away again there would have been a call for resignations which would have been impossible to deny. Describing the building as sturdily constructed, Lewis said all sorts of things had been tried to gain entry to the edifice but the doors had grills behind them. He explained that the walls were solid-cast concrete and the windows were grilled and as a result of the way the building was constructed the police who were on the roof could not be harmed. Lewis said that because of the difficulty posed by the way the building was protected the assistance of the Guyana Defence Force was sought. To this request two sections of the 31 Special Forces battalion under Captains Fitzroy Ward and David Clarke were deployed. As a result of their experience in initially attempting to storm the building, the GDF changed tactics and deployed anti-tank missiles which were used to pierce the walls through which concussion grenades were hurled and automatic weapons fire was poured into the building. Observers at the scene, however, are critical of the joint deployment of police and soldiers in the inner cordon and the obvious lack of coordination between them. They said that the soldiers should have formed the inner cordon with the police forming the outer ring. This deployment they said would have allowed for unity of command. Commenting on the firepower and weaponry which `Blackie' had, Lewis said that the police had to supplement their ammunition at least twice during the night so as to be able to maintain the level of its gunfire to match his. He said too that they also had to change guns which ran hot because of their intensive use. Lewis said that `Blackie' did not have this problem as he was able to change weapons at will. Stabroek News has learnt that `Blackie' fired different weapons from various points as well as sometimes firing two weapons at a time which gave the impression that there was more than one person replying from the building. In one of the final assaults on the building two soldiers, Lincoln Fraser and Lennox Harvey were injured when they stormed the building in which `Blackie' was hiding. Lewis said that a policeman Sherwin Smith was also injured but he said that he was taken to a private hospital, blaming the move on the inappropriate comments by the staff at the Emergency Unit of the PHG when the first soldier who was hurt was taken there. Then, he said, the staff made comments as who should have been brought to the hospital when and who should not be. He indicated his intention to inform the hospital administration of the incident. Lewis said that in addition to time off and counselling, psychiatric help would also be considered. Crime Chief Floyd McDonald who was at the press conference with the Commissioner, said that the Police would have preferred to have arrested him "but that he apparently thought otherwise and as a result of his actions he was killed." 'Blackie' had been planning big event this weekend - Cops Linden London whose name is now etched in legend following the 11-hour shoot-out with the joint services at the Toucan Guest House at Eccles, East Bank Demerara was planning a big event this weekend. That event will not now take place as London was killed yesterday in a volley of bullets as he exited the burning building set alight by the armour-piercing grenades which had been fired into the building by the GDF 31 Special Forces Squadron. Speaking with reporters at a midday press conference at his office yesterday, Commissioner of Police, Laurie Lewis, and his top officers, described the siege which began at 8:30 pm on Tuesday and ended at about 7:30 am yesterday as a harrowing experience. Commander of the Georgetown Police District, Henry Greene, explained that the police received information that London was hiding out at an apartment complex, but had not been informed which apartment he was in. Stabroek News understands that there were eight apartments in the two-building U-shaped structure. Greene said that each apartment had its entrance and that there was no adjoining door leading from one apartment to the next. He said that on arrival at the hotel, the police went to the apartment in which London was holed up and were fired upon when he was requested to surrender. He said that the police then withdrew and there was an exchange of gunfire which turned Eccles into a war zone. Greene said that Rhonda Forde - the woman who was killed in the operation - "was thrown through the door and she appeared to be lifeless" and that when the police attempted to remove her body four fragmentation grenades were lobbed in their direction. This newspaper understands that the woman's body was lying in the doorway from about 9:30 pm on Tuesday and was not removed until the early hours of yesterday. Greene said too that only the wooden section of the building was burnt. The building caught afire as a result of being hit with armour-piercing grenades. Crime Chief, Floyd McDonald, said that London was being pursued by the police since 1989 but became very active during 1996 and was wanted for 14 robberies at a minimum and two murders. He said that the police had dismantled a number of gangs that he had formed but unfortunately were unable to arrest him although the police had had three or four close encounters with him. "On one occasion at Kaieteur Top in 1996 a party of policemen cornered him but he escaped because he threw grenades at them and jumped into the river. On another occasion at the Ogle airport a policeman stopped him because he had in his possession a bulky object which turned out to be a machine gun. The policeman was unarmed and he was not able to have him arrested. In 1997, on the East Coast [Demerara], a car that he was using was observed on the road but by the time the policemen went there he had escaped." The Crime Chief said that in their most recent pursuit of London, the police received "reliable information that he was planning a robbery somewhere in Parika and we set up a mechanism to have him arrested but the robbery did not come off. "Based on our information, we are of the view that he was planning a big event this weekend. Fortunately we have been able to have him arrested and that event will not come off." The Crime Chief said too that the police were in the process of pursuing other members of London's gang and hoped that in the not too distant future they would be arrested. Police Commissioner, Lewis, said that London was a trained soldier who operated as if he was a special force. London, while in the army, was a member of an elite unit, which was continuously trained in close quarters combat, urban and jungle warfare, amphibious operations, paratrooping and training in explosives among other skills. Lewis downplayed the significance of London's death stating that his was just one group which had been dismantled permanently. He mentioned that the police were hunting Hilton Rodrigues called 'Chammar' in connection with crimes committed on the Corentyne and a squad of the Tactical Services Unit had just returned to headquarters but that a dedicated group of policemen was continuing the hunt for him. On display at the press conference were a number of weapons recovered from the building including an AK 47 rifle, the butt of which was removed and two magazines taped together for rapid replacement; a .22 revolver, a 9 mm pistol, smoke canisters, two shotguns, the butts of which were also removed, a Sterling machine gun which could fire automatically or single shots, various kinds of ammunition for the weaponry displayed, two smoke grenades and concussion grenades. The commissioner said that the origin of the weapons was still to be determined, explaining that some of the weapons were in use by the army and the police. He said too that the weaponry displayed was an indication of the level of violence some people were prepared to use in pursuit of crime. As a result, he said, ordinary policemen could not be asked to go up against these men and special squads had to be formed to deal with them. Dealing with questions as to whether London was killed in the process of surrendering, the commissioner said that he did not know if London was killed while his hands were up. Lewis also said that he was not sure whether London was wearing a bullet-proof vest during the shoot-out. A bloody bullet-proof vest, camouflage trousers and jacket similar to those used by the GDF as well as a poncho were also among the items on display. A Guyana passport in the name of James Anthony Hector and a burnt St Lucia passport, in which the name was obliterated, were also on display. The commissioner also dodged questions as to whether compensation would be paid to the owner of the building destroyed in the exercise. He said that he had not been approached by the owner of the building, Norman Trotz, but that there were considerations to be taken into account, such as the law of knowingly being an accessory before and after the fact and the law of compensation. He also confirmed that no other body was found in the debris of the building and that it was still being searched for weapons and ammunition. Lewis thanked the public who traversed the East Bank roadway for their patience particularly between 10 pm on Tuesday to around 10 am yesterday. He also thanked the residents in the area who willingly evacuated their homes as the police secured the area to better deal with the situation. The commissioner also thanked the GDF for its ready response and assistance, material and otherwise, which he said was generously given in line with the close collaboration which had developed between the two organisations.