Terror on Ketley St
Bandits invade beer gardens
Owner fatally shot, other man dead
Eight injured
By Samantha Alleyne and Oscar P. Clarke
Stabroek News
January 23, 2003
Three carloads of heavily armed bandits attacked two Charlestown businesses last night killing two persons and injuring several others before escaping with cash and jewellery after a bloody ten-minute siege filled with high-calibre gunfire.
Residents scurried for cover as the gunmen fired on both buildings before departing in two of the vehicles south along Hogg Street, Albouystown.
In their wake, the gunmen left the bodies of businessman, Leonard Parjohn called `Roy’, 31, owner of Steven Beer Garden Cheap Shop on Ketley Street, Charlestown, and Carlton Norton, 22, of Charlestown.
The eight other persons who were caught in the hail of gunfire and were hospitalised are: Tamika Joseph, 16, of 14, Broad Street, Charlestown; Sharon Reece, 28, of 37 Ketley Street, Charlestown; Adrian Reid, 27, of 338, West Ruimveldt; Shonell Dawson, 31, of 78 Pike Street, Kitty; Jeffrey Lane, 36, of 551 West Ruimveldt who is said to be a policeman; Patsy Samaroo, 58, of 35 Howes Street Charlestown; Kwesi Leacock, 24, of 52 Louisa Row; and Surendra Ragmohan, 49 of Hogg Street, Albouystown.
As the volley of gunshots resounded in the Charlestown neighbourhood, police arrived soon after but were seen beating a hasty retreat as they came under attack.
Several vanloads of police later arrived in the area and drove through the streets at great speed in an apparent effort to catch the fleeing gunmen.
According to a patron, who was in Parjohn’s business place, about four unmasked men entered the shop wildly firing their guns. He and other persons sought cover in a toilet. The gunmen kept banging on the door ordering them to come out but they remained inside the small dark room. The man said one of the men walked up to the grilled area where the owner Parjohn was inside with his wife and four children and pushed the gun through the grill ordering him to open the door. He said that when the owner hesitated to open the door one of the gunmen pointed his weapon at Parjohn’s 4-year-old daughter, Angelena, threatening to shoot her. It was at this point the man’s wife started to beg and quickly opened the grill door.
By this time the woman had pushed her four children, Nicole, 11, Melissa, 8, Steven, 7 and little Angelena under the counter.
Later at their home, where a number of relatives and concerned residents were, Nicole recalled having her seven-year-old brother sitting on her. “I couldn’t see anything, my brother was sitting on me and all I hearing is gun shots. I don’t know what the men did but all I know is that they drag my mother and father upstairs......” the shaken child recalled last evening.
Nicole pointed to one earring she was wearing and related how her mother made them take off the earrings and she handed them over to the bandits. Her mother was wearing a gold chain and she also gave this to the bandits.
According to reports after the gunmen terrified the family and patrons downstairs they dragged Parjohn and his wife to the upper flat where they kept demanding money and jewellery.
It is unclear what occurred in the upper flat, but the woman’s mother, Lagbini who lives next door, told this newspaper that she heard her daughter screaming, “Mommy! Mommy! deh kill Roy you all don’t come out deh get guns.” The shaken woman said when she peeped over she saw the men in the house.
From all indications the men dragged Parjohn into the front bedroom where they continued to demand more money and jewellery. The man’s wife handed over what they had but the bandits seemed not to have been satisfied and shot Parjohn in his face.
The man’s daughter pointed to the spot where her father was shot and a large pool of blood was present.
At the exact same time, next door at the Pet Boys Beer Garden & Pools Bar, four men, all armed with long guns, barged into the shop firing shots and demanding money.
Mahendra Jagmohan also called `Pet Boy’ and owner of the beer garden, told Stabroek News that he was in another section of the business in Howes Street when he heard the volley of shots. He immediately switched off the lights and took cover. After the gunfire had ceased he ventured outside and encountered a scene of chaos. A box containing the sales for the day was missing.
His brother, Surendra, who runs the business was shot in thigh.
The man’s wife, Maureen Paul, said she was in the upper flat of the building frying chicken when the gunfire erupted and her husband ordered her to turn off the light. The woman said on looking over next door at Parjohn’s she saw the men in the yard and in the home. Paul, wiping back tears, said she scampered into her bedroom and dived to the floor.
Over in a next room the couple’s daughter, Shelly, said she peeped through the door and saw her mother running to her room. The young woman said on hearing the gunfire downstairs she was afraid that the men were making their way to the upper flat and she escaped through a window on to the verandah where she hid.
Paul said the gunmen fired shots into the stairway that leads upstairs and surmised that they did not make their way upstairs because the stairs was too dark.
When Stabroek News arrived on the scene, shortly after the incident, residents had converged on the scene.
It was at this point it was learnt that Parjohn had been shot in the house. A large number of persons, including a rural constable, rushed into the premises as efforts were feverishly made to transport the injured persons to the hospital.
Shortly after relatives were seen lifting the shot Parjohn from the home and placing him into a van.
It was about this time that people brought Surendra out of the beer garden and placed him to lie on the ground. A car was summoned and he was rushed to the hospital.
“Another man deh up deh road, he look dead,” was the cry of a man in the large crowd. On rushing to the scene on Hogg Street, Norton could be seen lying on his back in the middle of the road and he appeared dead. Dressed in a red jersey, three quarter pants and white sneakers, he was later picked up by an ambulance and taken to the hospital.
Reports indicate that Norton had gone to Humphrey’s Bakery and was shot as he tried to flee the retreating gunmen who were firing indiscriminately as they left.
It was at this time, Reece and Joseph were also shot. The other injured persons were said to have been patrons of the two beer gardens.
In the chaos a black Toyota Ceres, HA 9913 with bullet holes was found parked in front of Parjohn’s shop.
“Dah is one deh car use by dem bandits,” a resident was heard saying.
A man, who claimed to be the owner of the car and who did not want to be named, said his vehicle had been hijacked by the gunmen.
According to the man he was at the Demico car park when he was hired by a man who requested to be taken to Norton Street. He said as soon as he pulled off, the man placed a gun to his head and ordered him to drive to Princes Street. While there, two others joined the vehicle, one of whom took over the wheel. The man was placed to lie on the floor in the rear of the car. He said the men drove the car to Ketley Street where they met two other carloads of bandits.
“As soon as we get hay, dem men just open the car door and I hear shooting. I manage to crawl out of deh car and I crawl and crawl into doh ally over deh, (pointing to a alleyway opposite the two beer gardens) and I stay deh till everything done,” the man said. Asked if he had seen anything else the man said, “Look lady, I tell you I crawl out of deh car and it had sheer bullets all over, I know about crawling, I ent know about nothing else.”
According to him the reason why his car was left behind was because it had run out of gas.
At the scene Stabroek News observed a large quantity of spent shells littering both the road and both shops.
Broken beer bottles, scattered chairs and cutlery were strewn about both premises. Blood was splattered on the floor. The 10-minute assault again called into question the police’s preparedness to take on heavily armed bandits even though a large sum of money was recently allocated for vehicles, protective gear and weapons.
Last night’s attack also puts into doubt the recent assurances by the police and army that they are containing criminals. The assurances had come following the launch of a new operation dubbed Saline Solution 11. Since the start of the year, there has been an upsurge in crime and several policemen have been shot dead.
Last night’s attack was reminiscent of the assault on Natoo’s Bar in September that resulted in four deaths.
