Cross-examination of the first witness in the inquest into the killing of three men by members of the police's Target Special Squad (TSS) on Mandela Avenue in July continued on Tuesday before coroner, Juliet Holder-Allen.

Eustace Abrahams known as 'Robo Cop,' a member of the TSS, was further cross-examined by attorney-at-law, Basil Williams and later attorney-at-law Robert Corbin, who entered a late appearance on behalf of the relatives of Steve Grant, one of the men who was gunned down.

Under cross-examination, Abrahams told the court: "There is a standard police procedure to deal with people who are acting suspiciously, which is written in a book that I am familiar with."

He said that he had known Grant since 1996 and that Grant had been arrested in his presence before. But he maintained that he had never had any battle with Grant in the past.

The mission of the TSS, the officer told the court, was to "react to violent crimes."

"We in the Target Special Squad have a special uniform. During the day we wear khaki and during the night we wear black," he said.

"All of the ranks were properly attired with bulletproof vests. The men were armed and based upon previous experiences, their weapons were geared to deal with violent situations."

Abrahams told the coroner after the men had been shot they crouched about 15 feet away from him. He described Grant as dark-skinned and tall and Antoine Houston as slimly built and light in complexion. The third man who was killed that day was John Bruce. The driver of the vehicle they were in had escaped.

Williams put it to the witness that the police had organised the shooting and arranged for the driver to escape. He said that on the day in question, the police ranks pulled up alongside the men, ordered them out and held two at gunpoint while another fled to a nearby stand. He was pursued by Assistant Superintendent Steve Merai, Williams said, adding that the man who ran to the stand had held his hands up, but the officer still shot him. He said that he later went over to the ranks who held the two other men at gunpoint told them something quietly and went back and finished his man.

"At that time the ranks apparently following the instructions of their senior discharged rounds on the men they held at gunpoint killing them," Williams said.

Meanwhile, Williams informed the coroner that the post-mortem reports on the three men were still with the police and a decision was taken to have carbon copies sent to the relatives of the deceased. The inquest will continue on January 16, 2002.

Earlier, Abrahams had testified that on the day of the incident they were coming from the East Bank Demerara when they observed a white car with four men acting suspiciously. He said the men's actions were deemed suspicious because two of them who were sitting in the back seat were seen leaning forward, apparently directing the driver.

"We pulled up alongside the car just next to the driver's door and ordered the driver to halt the vehicle. Three of the men rushed out of the car. Two ran east and the third ran west."

The policeman said that they pursued the men and the one who ran west fired a shot at them. Merai returned fire "dropping him. At that time the other two shot at us and we retaliated and they too fell."

He said that they pulled up alongside the driver but the driver escaped because he posed no threat to them and the focus was on those who exited the car.

In addition, he posited that their intention was to disarm the men not to kill them since they were concerned with preserving the lives of the citizens. "The men ran and fired at us and it was only then we retaliated."

Abrahams informed that all of the police officers were armed, noting that he had a shotgun while Merai was armed with a 9 mm pistol. He said that the members of the TSS were usually issued with personal firearms and another one to use when they were on patrol.