Stabroek News
August 5, 2001

The police are moving to have a coroner's inquest held into the shooting deaths of Antoine Houston, Steve Grant and John Bruce, who were killed by the Special Target Squad on Thursday, July 26.

They were killed at the corner of Mandela avenue and the Industrial Site road, according to the police, after the detachment from the police had returned their fire. Eyewitnesses' reports published in the Stabroek News and elsewhere said that the men had been shot in cold blood after they had been ordered out of the car.

Commissioner of Police Laurie Lewis told Stabroek News yesterday that he was moving to have a coroner's inquest set up as early as possible and that he was asking all eyewitnesses to come forward so that a full report could be submitted to the coroner.

Lewis stated that it was not fair to the police, the three men or their families for people to withhold information, especially in instances where it related to the commission of a crime.

He said too that if, as some sections of the media contended, that a crime had been committed then they had a responsibility to assist the police in their investigations.

The police were rebuffed by the Sunday Stabroek editor, Anna Benjamin, when they tried to obtain from her the source of the information on which last Sunday's editorial was based.

At his press conference on Friday, President Bharrat Jagdeo told reporters that the return to the practice of holding coroner's inquests would address the various calls for public inquiries which had been made in the wake of shootings of wanted men by the police.

He also bemoaned the fact that scant attention was paid in the media to the victims of crimes, while known criminals were lionised and became the focus of media attention. "Somehow something doesn't seem right," he said.