Shot cops remain under guard
Stabroek News
May 28, 2002
Members of the Guyana Police Force continued to be on guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation yesterday, where four of their colleagues, injured in Saturday night's attack at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, are being cared for.
Those hospitalised are Corporal Ray Gyness, 41, of `C' Division; Constable Sherwin Alleyne, 26, of Campbellville, Georgetown and New Amsterdam, Berbice; Ravi Outar, 24, and Marlon Cruickshank, 21, both of `C' Division.
Three of them are patients of the High Dependency Unit of the Institution, while Cruickshank is in the Inten-sive Care Unit. Cruickshank was reportedly shot several times in the chest, shoulder and thigh.
When Stabroek News visited the hospital yesterday, several police ranks were present - one always in proximity to the injured law enforcement officers - as well as relatives and friends of the quartet. This newspaper also observed members of the public offering words of encouragement and support.
Alleyne, a father of one, was sedated at the time, but Gyness and Outar were seen sitting up in bed chatting with their visitors. One of Alleyne's cousins claimed that the young man's mother, who resides in Berbice, had not yet been told of the incident, for fear of her reaction. This newspaper understands that Alleyne suffered multiple gunshot wounds and a compound fracture to the left femur, while Gyness and Outar have wounds penetrating the back and the head, respectively.
Reports indicate that the quartet was ambushed late Saturday while trailing a suspicious-looking car to a dam at Coldingen. One policeman at the hospital yesterday said no one has been arrested, but it was suspected that the escapees were involved. The attackers were not wearing masks.
The police, in a release last Saturday, claimed that two men opened fire on the mobile patrol at about 1935 hrs behind Coldingen and shot at their vehicle, PEE 3286, setting it ablaze.
It said at the time, the ranks were investigating the movement of a vehicle approaching the dam and as they drew close, the two gunmen who were standing on the dam opened fire on the patrol and fled into the night.
But this newspaper understands that prior to the attack, the policemen visited the area and asked residents whether they had seen "the bandits" (understood to have meant Mash Day prison escapees Andrew Douglas, Dale Moore, Shawn Brown, Mark Fraser and Troy Dick) or any suspicious vehicle in the area.
Residents had reportedly seen a strange car in the area, but were unable to say how many persons were in it. They did offer, however, that the men in the strange car disembarked and were hiding in the bushes when the cops arrived. Stabroek News was told that the cops were returning to their vehicle after speaking with the residents, when they were fired upon. This is the fourth time members of the Guyana Police Force have been shot at in recent months. Two ranks - Superintendent Leon Fraser and Detective Harry Kooseram - were fatally wounded in separate attacks, while two other ranks were injured when their vehicle came under fire outside Buxton on the East Coast Demerara.