Two men shot dead in Albouystown
Three injured
By Andre Haynes and Kim Lucas
Stabroek News
November 30, 2002
Two men were shot dead last night and three other persons were injured in Albouystown after two gunmen opened fire on them wildly.
According to sources the incident occurred at around 8 pm when armed men opened fire on four men who were at the time gathered at the junction of King Edward and James Street, Albouystown. A woman was shot and injured while she was standing at the gate of the nearby Dharm Shala as the gunmen fled the scene.
Those confirmed dead are Shawn Forde of Howes Street and Selwyn Pollydore of 33 Middle Road, La Penitence. Those injured are Treston Talbot of 7 Princes Street, Wortmanville, Herman Pillai of the Dharm Shala and Gita Singh. The three are now nursing gunshot wounds at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Stabroek News understands that the shooting had its genesis in an incident earlier in the day during which a woman was robbed by two men who are said to be the gunmen responsible for last night’s bloodbath.
Sources say that the two men who had robbed the woman were confronted by the four men who were fired at last night.
The quartet detained one of the men and relieved him of his firearm while his
accomplice escaped. While the robber demanded the return of his weapon, the men are said to have instructed him to return the jewellery and money taken from the woman. It is said that he left the scene and a short while later the woman’s jewellery was returned by an unidentified man.
It is believed that the two robbers along with at least three other men returned to the scene last night. The men, one of whom is said to have been armed with a pump action weapon, are said to have parked their car on Sussex Street before walking into King Edward Street towards the junction. They are then reported to have begun firing wildly in the direction of the group of men who were at the junction, where according to sources they usually convene. Some residents in surrounding houses were forced to take cover on their floors as gunshots pierced their walls and windows. Sources said several 9mm warheads were recovered near the scene.
The gunmen are meanwhile believed to have then returned along King Edward Street as they made their way to their parked vehicle to escape the scene. Before they entered their vehicle they fired at Pillai, who was at the time standing at the inner right corner of the gate of the Dharm Shala.
He is said to have sustained gunshot wounds to one of his arms and to his abdomen. Singh is also thought to have been injured then.
The injured were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where up to press time they were said to have been in stable condition.
When Stabroek News arrived the scene a trail of blood leading from the inner gate of the Dharma Shala to the spot Pillai is said to have collapsed was testimony to what had transpired.
The shooting is the latest in a series in Albouystown by feuding gunmen. Around 10 persons have been shot dead in similar incidents over the last few months.
