GUNMEN last night opened fire on the Vigilance Police Station, East Coast Demerara, forcing the Police to strike back - but no one was hurt in the crossfire which lasted for about five to 10 minutes, Police said.

And at about the same time that that attack was under way, gunmen opened fire on the Prison Officers Sports Club and jail in Georgetown, wounding six persons.

A Police release said that around 19:30 hrs, gunmen secluded themselves and launched their attack from a house lot in the north - obliquely opposite the Vigilance Police Station.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) went to the assistance of the Police and the men were forced to withdraw, the release said.

Following the shooting the Police reinforced their security in and around the station.

At press time the situation was calm and even though traffic had begun flowing once more on the main East Coast road, motorists were doing so with caution.

THE abandoned dominoes table, upturned chairs and spilled drinks, after the shooting.
A civilian female was among the six persons wounded when, at around 20:00 hrs, about four gunmen using two cars attacked the Camp Street, Georgetown jail and the Prison Officers Sports Club located opposite.

Bullet holes on the prison and sports club fences as well as the wall and inner ceiling of Peter's, a spare parts business place nearby, were evidence of the shooting.

Wounded are Prison Officer, Maurice Greene, 52, who sustained a graze at the back of his head; ex-Prison Officer, Lloyd Bruce, 52, shot on the left hand; civilian, Karen Sobers, shot in the back near the shoulder; and prisoners Mohamed Ali, 25, who was grazed by a bullet on the left leg, Audwin Alfred 34, grazed by a bullet in the back and Simeon Marks, 36, shot in the chest.

The civilian was walking in the vicinity when she was shot, while the prisoners were wounded when the bullets penetrated the zinc fence of the prison, reports said.

The attacks followed the brutal Wednesday night shooting of patrons in a liquor bar/business place at Lamaha and Pike Streets, Kitty, Georgetown that left four dead and several others wounded, including Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Denis Hanomansingh and the proprietor of the business, Beharry Dookie also known as `Nathoo'.

A prison official, who sustained slight injury to his forehead as he and others ducked for cover behind the concrete fence of the sports club, recounted that he and colleagues were playing a friendly game of dominoes in the northern corner of the club, near Bent Street.

The group, according to him, would normally sit on the southern side of the building but for some unexplained reason they did not do so last night.

He felt that had they being playing in the regular corner, the wounds could have been fatal.

The official recalled that in the height of the game, a shot rang out and he and colleagues ducked for cover.

Some subsequently scrambled to the back of the building and jumped the fence to escape to safety, he said.

Persons in the area reported that the gunmen had minutes before the attack used a red car to survey the vicinity and returned not long after in a white car, this time leaving the vehicle and opening fire on the prison officers who were playing games in the club yard.

The armed men also trained their guns on the prison and in the process the prisoners who were in the Northern Block were wounded.

It was then too that the bullets penetrated the business place at the corner of Camp and Bent Streets, which faces the jail.

A resident in the area said she heard the sound of gunshots, grabbed her baby and ducked for cover.