London had halted firing
- army witness tells inquest
By Andre Haynes
Stabroek News
May 13, 2002
As the Coroner's Inquest into the deaths of Linden London and Rhonda Forde continued on Wednesday, the second of the military witnesses, Captain Fitzroy Warde, submitted his account of the siege at the Toucan Suites Guest House, which ended with three words and a hail of bullets.
...."Mc Allister could be heard saying, "Hold your fire!' On my instruction London stopped (halted). Gunfire. Linden London fell before me."
London, who was wanted in connection with the September 1999 America Street and January 2000 NIS robberies, was fatally shot on February 9, 2000, during an armed confrontation with members of the joint services at Toucan Suites after an 11-hour siege. While most of his testimony concurred with what Captain David Clarke had submitted at the last hearing of the inquest on April 24, Warde's account offered personal insight into London's interaction with the joint services directly before his death. He testified that there had been a dialogue, which Captain Clarke had mentioned, with Captain Mc Allister, Staff Sergeant Mc Farlane and Corporal Cummings of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) as well as Superintendent Steve Merai of the police force.
"The dialogue was initiated by me, when I called out 'London'. He inquired my name. I called out my name and he answered. He replied quietly who was I. I informed him and he stated that he did not remember me or know me. I informed him that there were members of the Special Forces Squadron, who were his classmates. He in turn requested their names and requested to speak to them, which was allowed. The dialogue lasted for twenty to twenty-five minutes."
Where Captain Clarke's account chronicled Captain Mc Allister's warning and the shots that were fired, Warde related that following the dialogue, at 7.15 am a reconnaissance team led by him had gone forward to ascertain the removal of the door of the bedroom where London had been holed up. The team met with gunfire coming from the vicinity of the bedroom.
"I ordered my team west of the fence area and called out to Mr London to throw out his weapon. I proceeded to the entrance of the apartment and in the process I heard movement coming from within the bedroom. I later saw Linden London crawling on his stomach with two weapons, one in each hand. I then informed London that I had him in my sights and could shoot him. I further instructed London to throw out his weapons through the window and place his hands above his head. He informed me that the police wanted to kill him and did not comply with my instructions for about five minutes. After which he did. The weapon struck the hanging grill (of the window) and fell on the inside of the window. I expressed my displeasure to London, I told him that I had instructed him that he throw his weapons through the window and not on the inside of the window. He replied that he was in a difficult position and could not throw the weapons through the window. I further instructed him to place his hands above his head and to stand up and follow me. My weapon was trained on London as I said that, at approximately ten feet away from the entrance of the said apartment. I instructed London to stop."
What followed in Captain Warde's testimony was London's emergence, Mc Allister's warning and the sudden silence being pierced by gunfire. "London had spun around and his head landed on my left instep."
Captain Warde then related that he, with other members of the Special Forces Squadron, proceeded into the apartment where London had been. "Gunfire was heard coming into the building. A few shots fell around my leg. The remainder of the apartment was cleared, and while no one else was found, a quantity of weapons, ammunition and other ordinance was found. This included grenades, teargas canisters, spent shells, one semi-automatic pistol, two shotguns, one A-K 47 rifle, one sub-machine gun and more."
Asked whether he knew London and whether the person who was killed was London, Captain Warde declared that he did not know London and would not know for sure if the person who was shot was London. He did note that the man who fell looked like the man identified as London in the newspaper photographs.
Questioned by Coroner Melissa Robertson about where London was facing when he was shot, Warde submitted that to the best of his recollection, London had been facing a south-westerly direction. "Did you see where the bullets hit London?"
"The first shot hit his right calf muscle and other bullets hit the upper part of the body."
"So he was shot in the leg first?"
"I don't know, I just remember that he was shot on the right calf muscle."
"Where were members of your unit?"
"They were behind me behind the western fence of the Toucan Suites Guest House."
"Where were the police?"
"Police were also behind the western fence but more south of the special forces group."
"Do you know from which direction, the bullets came from which hit London?"
"The bullets that hit London were likely to come from a south western-direction where the police were located."
"Would you be able to say what type of bullets were used?"
"I wouldn't be able to say what type of bullets they were."
On cross-examination, attorney representing the interest of the police, Vic Puran brought Warde's attention to the point where London was standing with his hands above his head.
"The army ranks were in a position to give you covering fire?"
"I would say yes."
"London would have been in the same line of sight of the men giving you covering fire."
"Yes"
"If London was trying to kill you, wouldn't the ranks giving covering fire have killed London?"
"Yes they would have shot at London. I would say they would have shot."
The attorney also focused on the chain of command during the siege, seeking to discern whether any one man had had command of the operation and specifically the GDF units. Captain Warde had testified that there had been three units involved in the operation. One led by himself, one by Captain Foo and another either by Captain Clarke or Captain Carmi-chael. Asked who was in charge of the army, he was unable to say, however he did note that all army personnel would have been under the instruction of himself and Captain Clarke. "To which unit did Captain Clarke belong?"
"As far as I am aware, he was not part of any of the three units."
Returning the focus to the point where London was shot, Puran asked Captain Warde whether he knew of exploding bullets. He responded in the affirmative, acknowledging that he knew that bullets could go off without being fired by a firearm in circumstances where they were exposed to heat.
"In the Army, a command is given in the form of a sentence but the command is focused on the last word, like by the left-quick-march, with the emphasis being on march?"
"Yes."
"There was a lot of noise that morning when London was shot?"
"It was very quiet."
"Was there a lot of noise around the time when he was shot?"
"Not around the time when he was shot. At the precise moment when he was shot, the place was silent."
"Before that there was a lot of noise?"
"Yes."
"Do you know who fired the shots?"
"No."
"Or whether it could have been exploding bullets?"
"I would definitely say it was not exploding bullets."
"There is a possibility, you would agree, that the noise could have drowned out McAllister's order?"
"Yes."
"And it was possible someone heard the last word (fire) and thought it was a command." "Someone could have... yes."
Regarding Rhonda Forde, Captain Warde's testimony also concurred with Captain Clarke's account, that the body of Forde had been discovered during a reconnaissance of the area at 1:30 am on the morning of February 9. While he also related that he had been informed by the late Police Superintendent Leon Fraser that the woman was shot by London and thrown out the door, he added that other policemen had stated that the woman was shot in a crossfire between London and the police. Later, an inquiry was made by the jurors concerning the location of the body between the fence and the Guest House. Captain Warde informed them that the body had been four feet away from the fence and twenty-six feet away from the building.
Following Captain Warde's testimony, Captain Mc Allister was informed that the late hour would mean that his testimony would have to be delayed until the next proceedings. Captain Mc Allister obliged and remarked that he had only been served with the summons on Monday. The inquest will continue on May 22 at 1 pm when Captain Mc Allister will deliver his testimony.
The purpose of the Coroner's Inquest is to determine if anyone is criminally liable for the deaths of London and Forde.