Six shot dead in city
By Samantha Alleyne and Edlyn Benfield
Stabroek News
November 5, 2002
Six persons were shot dead last evening in two separate incidents recalling last week Monday’s killings when seven persons were shot dead.
Five of the persons were shot execution style at the corner of Robb and Light Streets while one person, said to have been a would-be bandit, was shot dead in Middle Road, La Penitence, when he and his accomplices attempted to rob a resident in the street.
The death toll is now eighteen persons who have been killed in just eight days, seventeen by way of gunshots and one burnt to death in a car in Buxton.
Dead in this latest shooting are Andrew McPherson of Toucan Drive, South Ruimveldt; Derrick Torrington called `Jack About,’ and O’Neil Embrock called `Agouti’of Charlotte Street, said to be around 43-years-old.
These three along with two others whose identities were unknown at the time this newspaper went to press, were shot dead in Robb Street, while the sixth person, who was shot in La Penitence, was only identified as `Plain Clothes.’
Stabroek News understands that `Plain Clothes’ along with four others was attempting to rob the home of one Persaud at around 7:30p.m. when he was fatally shot, while the other four managed to escape.
It was when the police were investigating that incident that word came through of the shooting in Light Street.
This shooting took place at about 9:30p.m.
When this newspaper arrived on the scene there were four bodies lying at the corner of Robb and Light Streets, while blood was oozing all over the road. Two taxis with a Central Point (CP) taxi service logo were parked at the corner with their doors standing wide open, suggesting that the men were in the cars prior to the attack.
This newspaper understands that the men might have been ambushed at the corner and as they attempted to escape they were executed with AK-47’s. It appeared as if the men were trying to flee the scene when they were shot dead, as there were no bullet holes immediately evident in the bodywork of the cars.
The cars, HA 174 and PHH 1485 are said to have belonged to Embrock who was the owner of CP taxi service.
Persons last night said that the two cars had been seen racing up Robb Street but no once could say how the men had been shot or by whom. Similarly, the police could shed little light on the incident.
Embrock, who at the time was wearing blue track pants and a T-shirt, was lying flat on his back with his arms outstretched. From the nature of his wound he appeared to have been shot in the abdomen. His head was between the legs of another man, whose call name was said to be `Buckman,’ and who was lying on his stomach with one of his legs almost under him in a semi-crouching position. He appeared to have been shot in the head, hand and leg. Another man who was dressed in short pants and a vest was also lying on his back having been shot in the abdomen.
These three bodies were lying not far from one of the cars suggesting that they might have been the occupants of that particular car.
The fourth body was some distance away from the others lying face down. He was dressed in short pants, shirt, sneakers and socks and was wearing a red head-tie. He had sustained gunshot wounds to several parts of his body, and the bullet holes evident on the road around him raised the possibility that his assailant(s) had stood over him and pumped bullets into his torso as he lay on the ground.
At the scene the police recovered a handgun and a cellular phone, which was ringing at the time, along with a charger. On opening the trunk of the car they also found a sweater and a bag which were quickly replaced, and the cars were shortly afterwards driven away from the scene by policemen.
The fifth man, McPherson, was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) in a private vehicle where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He is said to have sustained some seven gunshot wounds.
There was a large crowd at the scene and many were overheard exclaiming about the death of the men. “Oh God when it go down? Wha happening in this country?
Everyday is a shooting now,” were some of the comments. There were also those who recognised one or another of the men to be their relatives and could be heard wailing as they called out their names and asked, “Why?”
“Oh no is Jack About, I just see this man and now he gan and dead,” were the words of a man on recognising Torrington’s body.
Women could also be heard screaming for Embrock.
At the scene in Middle Road, La Penitence, the bandit’s body was left lying on the road for some two hours before it was removed.
According to an eyewitness Persaud was standing on a bridge across from his house when the men approached his home. According to the witness, two of the men stayed in the street and three entered the yard. Of those, two remained downstairs while the one that was shot went into the house. On seeing this Persaud, who is a licensed firearm holder, ran across the road and started firing shots even though all of the men were said to have been armed.
The two in the street fled the scene immediately, one in the yard reportedly scaled the man’s back fence and escaped, while the fourth ran out into the street and escaped.
The man who was killed was said to have run out into the street after he was shot, but fell a short distance from the house. He was at the time wearing short pants, a jersey and sneakers.