Police restored order in Buxton late last evening following four hours of disturbances which saw several persons shot and injured following the burial of slain Buxtonian Shaka Blair.

The police say they fired after they were shot at first.

Police, backed up by the army, managed to restore a semblance of normality, including clearing and filling a cut made by some in the funeral procession on the main roadway.

A press release from the police Public Relations Department last evening said there were incidents of criminal activity including sporadic gunfire permeating the PNC REFORM-organised funeral possession of Blair along the ECD roadway, particularly in his hometown of Buxton.

According to the release, two persons allegedly assaulted a plain-clothes policeman, who hails from the village of Buxton, at about 1540 hrs. One of his alleged attackers, the police said, lashed him with a gun, in the vicinity of Middle Walk Dam in the village. At the time the officer was in the company of his little daughter.

Gunfire was subsequently heard emanating from a location south of the main road closer to the Embankment roadway, the police said.

At around 1640 hrs a crowd of about 300 persons approached barriers established at Brush Dam, west of the Vigilance Police Station, in a hostile manner, the release added.

The police say they discharged a round in the air in an effort to disperse the crowd and persons from within the group returned fire. Others from this group, police said, disengaged themselves and began digging two ditches at Friendship, one measuring about six feet wide and the other three feet across the roadway.

The release said that the police had retaken the ground last evening but urged commuters to and from the city to be extra cautious while passing through the village of Buxton, which they deemed as a "rather hostile area".

They further called on law-abiding citizens of the area to desist from engaging in criminal activities. The police said they would not stand idly by and allow this type of behaviour to continue.

Up to late last night police continued to patrol the area covering Lusignan in the west and Strathspey in the east. They secured service stations in the villages, including Buxton.

Traffic, which had been held up for miles at both ends leading into the Buxton area had been cleared by last evening. Several persons who were lingering on the roadway, presumably anticipating further action and some awaiting transportation departed for their homes.

As calm was restored, persons traversing the area on foot were being ordered to raise their hands above their heads as they approached police checkpoints.

The chaos erupted while Blair's body was in a casket at the St Augustine Anglican Church, yesterday afternoon. Blair had been shot dead by the police two Saturdays ago in his village of Buxton under controversial circumstances. Residents of the village and the police had clashed on the day of his killing and a ditch was dug on the Embankment Road by Buxtonians.

Yesterday, the group of marchers, wearing red and black, gyrated behind a truck, which blasted music from the stereo set that Blair had operated. The group moved up to the seawall, got organised and then with loud shouts and the set blaring popular soca rhythms, returned to the public road. There they displayed slogans while at the same time throwing taunts and derogatory remarks at the police officers who stood guard behind barricades put up at Vigilance.

It was at about 6:30 pm that some persons in crowd began throwing missiles at the ranks. The police first fired in the air and then at the attackers, dispersing the crowd. Some shots were fired in the air, while other rounds were directed at some of the marchers who ran for cover. All during this exchange the protestors threw glass bottles at the ranks, but as they did, the police, dressed in bulletproof vests and helmets advanced, firing at them.

Some people, who came from as far as Georgetown to the east and Mahaica to the west ran into nearby shops, while others ran into homes of persons who they did not know.

At this point 23-year-old Mark Nelson of 113 Beterverwagting, ECD was shot in his leg reportedly in the femoral artery (the main artery of the thigh) with a live round by the police. The young man lay on the ground in front of the church bleeding profusely for over 15 minutes while arrangements were made to take him to the hospital. Nelson was seen writhing in pain, his pants drenched with blood. Up to last evening, Nelson was said to be in the operating theatre at the Georgetown Hospital.

His injuries made the crowd furious and some among them, who had retreated, returned with implements and started to dig a hole across the Buxton Public Road.

News of Nelson's shooting was relayed to leader of the PNC/R Desmond Hoyte and quickly got around the church. On hearing it, those in attendance at the church erupted into fury. Some of them ran out of the church in the midst of the priest's sermon and shouts of "Shoot gat shoot back," were heard. The church service ended and Hoyte and his colleagues left the area. The pallbearers took Blair's body to the cemetery and he was laid to rest with loud crying from relatives and friends. By now the protesters had gone a far way in digging up the main road. All during this time, the traffic on the road was blocked and workers, children, students, cane farmers and others who were travelling from Georgetown and other areas on the east coast abandoned the buses they had been travelling in and began the walk to their destination.

Blocked from the police's view by a crowd of people, the men continued to dig the trench on the public road and debris, bush and huge piles of wood were thrown onto the road. No attempt was made by anyone to dissuade the diggers or others who were throwing missiles at the law enforcers. When the police squads realised what was happening, the trench was nearly halfway across the main road. The police began to advance on the diggers, but as they got closer, bottles were thrown at them. At this point some members of the crowd dispersed. The police suddenly retaliated firing pellets and live rounds at irregular intervals and releasing tear gas into the air. Children who were still stranded on the road, inhaled the gas and collapsed.

The diggers retreated and the police pressed home their advantage. It was at this time that several persons were hit, among them 53-year-old George Sampson of 119 Friendship who received pellet wounds to the left side of his face, head and chest and Donald Primo, 54, of 111 Brush Dam, Friendship who received a pellet wound in the right leg. Additionally, three young women went to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation with pellet wounds but left the institution before they could be treated.

As the police advanced, they came upon persons who had been at the funeral, media personnel, school children and workers, who were walking home from the traffic build up. These persons also ran, but as they headed east, another squad of TSU ranks approached, sandwiching them. Leaping through mud and water, some - including a reporter from this newspaper - were forced to scale high fences and clear wide drains before entering the village of Buxton where they took cover under houses in the fading light while the police continued to fire and release tear gas. The police then managed to clear the roadway, removing the debris that had been heaped there. As they approached corners, the ranks fired shots into the village forcing those who were coming out onto the road to run and take cover.

By now only policemen were on the public road, no one ventured into their path. Even the men who had earlier thrown missiles at them had run away. For over two hours, the police, most of them dressed in black in the dark evening, lay on the road and hid behind fences in defensive mode. Whenever they saw someone, a round was discharged. Vehicles travelling from the upper east coast were blocked by the police and those that came from the lower east coast had to dim their lights, as the police kept the road dark preventing the angry Buxtonians from seeing them.

Up to 7 pm residents of Buxton and some who had travelled from other villages were still standing at various points in Buxton, afraid to venture onto the public road, while the police directed the heavy traffic build-up.

In recent months, Buxton has been the scene of angry confrontations between the police and citizens. (Additional reporting by Edlyn Benfield)