The driver, Seeram Pomdass, 44, of Number 72 Village, Upper Corentyne, Berbice, the unidentified man who was also in the front seat, and the three other persons were on their way to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, reports said.

The vehicle was in the vicinity of the Church of God Road and Side Line Dam when it came under fire from the attackers.

Unconfirmed reports stated that two of the other three other persons were passengers on a flight leaving the country and that they managed to catch the flight after the terror attack.

About two hours after, Police ranks were guarding the car, which was partly in the middle of the road with its left front door open and the rear left window shattered. There were several pieces of luggage in the trunk of the car.

Had it not been for the driver's blood-stained jersey and blood oozing from his nose and mouth, at first glance one would have thought that both men in the car were tired and probably taking a nap.

The driver was slumped in his seat, with his head tilted slightly to the left and his right hand barely resting on the steering wheel. On the dash board in front of him was a single red hibiscus flower.

In the seat next to him was the unidentified person, an elderly man dressed in a blue and white pin-striped shirt, blue pants, track boots and what appeared to be a black `snap' hat.

His body was sideways as if he was partly resting his head on something for support, and were it not for the bloodstains at the back of his shirt caused by a bullet wound, no one would have realised that he too was dead.

On the roadway, about three feet behind the car, were three bicycles, a pair of dirty rubber slippers and the odd side of another.

Police ranks on the scene said that the cycles and slippers belonged to the gunmen who abandoned them in their haste to flee the scene.

Police erected barricades in the vicinity of La Reconnaissance, some 200 metres from the murder scene and in the vicinity of the Vigilance Police Station, and as vehicles passed by, both drivers and passengers glanced at the dead men with disbelief on their faces.

In Buxton itself, small groups of people stood alongside the roadway and at street corners, while others could be seen in their yards.

At one point, about three gunshots rang out and motorists who were in the vicinity of the barricades in Vigilance, heading for the city, hurriedly changed direction.

It was learnt, however, that the shots were fired as a warning for people, who had converged along the roadway, to remove.

The death of the two men followed the attack by gunmen on the Vigilance Police Station Thursday evening, and counter action by the Police, lasting about 10 minutes.

A Police release stated that gunmen launched their attack at around 19:30 hrs from a house lot in the north - obliquely opposite the Police Station where they had secluded themselves.

Ranks from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) went to the aid of the Police and this caused the gunmen to retreat.

And, after the exchange of gunfire ceased, a hand grenade was found in a Police vehicle in the station compound.

Several bullet holes are evident on the walls of the station and a water tank was damaged.

The attack, sources said, was apparently spurred by an earlier confrontation between the Police and residents of the area after a young man claimed he had been shot by the Police and his sister assaulted.

The GDF, in a release yesterday, said the recent spate of shootings on the East Coast seemed to have taken a new twist, with gunmen now firing at their ranks.

The Army said that at around 20:00 hrs on Thursday, two gunmen opened fire on GDF patrol ranks in the vicinity of Company Road and the Railway Embankment, Buxton, forcing the soldiers to retaliate.

In the exchange of gunfire, a man whose name was given as Clive McRae was shot in the shoulder.

He was conveyed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GHPC) where he was admitted and said to be in stable condition.

Sources felt that the killing of the two men yesterday morning may have been in retaliation for the Thursday night confrontation.

The attack on the Vigilance Police Station was simultaneous with one launched by gunmen on the Prison Officers' Sports Club and the Georgetown Prisons, which resulted in six persons - two prison officers, a civilian and three prisoners - being wounded.