Sgt. Harry Kooseram, 37, was the second Police Officer shot and killed in the line of duty in less than two weeks and Police, in a statement, said "the assailant escaped into the safety of the Buxton/Friendship area".

The detective died in what seemed like a carefully planned ambush on the Strathspey public road, a short distance from his home in Bladen Hall, East Coast Demerara.

Hours after his killing violence again flared in the Buxton area as Police clashed with sections of the funeral procession for Shaka Blair, 33, who was shot dead when Police attempted to arrest him at his home in Buxton two Saturdays ago.

Top anti-crime fighter Police Superintendent, Leon Fraser was shot dead on April 2.

Police said Kooseram was "gunned down cold-bloodedly, in the line of duty" at about 07:00 hrs.

According to the Police report, a man approached the Detective Sergeant, pulled out a gun, which was wrapped in paper and fired six shots at him - two in the chest, three in the abdomen and one in the side. He was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he died at 08:05 hrs, Police said.

Police Commissioner Floyd McDonald expressed his condolences to the family and other relatives of the Sergeant, noting that yet another Policeman had been "gunned down in the line of duty".

"We will relentlessly pursue the perpetrator of this murder committed on an unarmed Policeman," the Police vowed.

Residents in Strathspey and neighbouring Bladen Hall were thrown into shock at the death of the well-known Police Officer. Scores of angry and sympathetic residents gathered at various points in the area discussing and speculating on reasons behind the killing.

Residents and other relatives also gathered at the home of the Kooserams at 149 First Street, Bladen Hall where the Sergeant lived with his wife, Pulmatie, 37, and their two daughters, Suzie, 17, and Mandy, 13.

Pulmatie said her husband was in the Police Force for some 18 years and had worked at several Police stations across the country, including on the East Coast and East Bank Demerara. He was last based at the Cove and John Police Station, but due to recent heightened tension and violence in the Buxton/Friendship area, he was temporarily based at the Vigilance Police Station.

The wife of the slain policeman also tearfully recalled that last Saturday was their 18th wedding anniversary.

"I think the person (murderer) was there waiting for my husband," Pulmatie said.

Pulmatie said Kooseram was not only a loving husband and father, but was also devoted to his job as a Policeman.

"He was an excellent father and husband and very good to neighbours and friends."

She said her husband left home for work between 06:30 and 07:00 hrs on a bicycle and it was drizzling at the time. "...about two minutes after, me and my small daughter were still on our verandah when we heard gunshots, which I initially thought were squibs," the grieving woman told reporters.

However, one of her daughters told her it did not sound like squibs but like gunshots.

She said: "I then saw people coming out of their house; I run out and go on my bridge too and then a small boy (standing on the Strathspey main road) was showing me signs to come."

"I had on my night clothes so I ran back inside and put on some clothes and when I went there, he was lying flat on the ground with blood all over his chest. He was still breathing."

Pulmatie said that as far as she knew there had been no prior threats or warnings to her husband.

The Police Association also "strongly condemned" the gunning down of the Detective Sergeant, noting that his execution followed the recent slaying of Superintendent Fraser.

Fraser, 42, was killed as he and other members of the special Police Anti-Crime Unit, popularly called the `Black Clothes' Police, approached an abandoned vehicle hidden among bushes in the Yarowkabra area, on the Linden-Soesdyke highway.

Fraser, shot in the head, was the second murder victim of the gang which also killed Prison Officer Troy Williams, 21, when it broke out of the Georgetown Prison on February 23, last. One of the five also shot Woman Prison Officer, Roxanne Whinfield, 36, in the head as they fled and she remains critically wounded in the Georgetown Hospital.

The Police Association, in a statement yesterday, noted with much concern the danger and potential violence Police ranks are exposed to each day in the execution of their duties.

The association, however, pointed out that even though the Police constantly face death in executing their mandate, it would appear that some sections of society do not appreciate this fact, for they continue to condemn the Police and their work by distorting the facts through some sections of the media, and this is designed to mislead the general public.

The association is calling on all persons who may have any information relating to the slaying of the Detective Sergeant to contact the nearest Police Station immediately.

"We are also calling on all civic-minded citizens to condemn such fatal and violent attacks on members of the Force," it added.

The association and its members also expressed sincere condolences to the family, relatives and friends of the Detective Sergeant Kooseram.