Police shoot basketball player dead
By Kim Lucas
Stabroek News
March 2, 2003
A police patrol yesterday morning opened fire on a group of young basketball players at the corner of Sheriff and Bonasika streets, Section 'K' Campbellville, Georgetown, mortally wounding one of them.
Dead is Yohance Douglas, 17, an architecture student at the University of Guyana, who lived at 1752 Cane View Avenue, South Ruimveldt Park; while Ronson Grey, 19, a second year International Relations student at the same university and of Layou Street, North Ruimveldt, was shot in the jaw. His condition was listed as critical by personnel at the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was taken.
A third teen, O'Neil King, the son of police officer Pamela King, was shot in the right hand. Two other young men, who were travelling in a grey 'Sprinter' motorcar at the time, were taken into custody by the police. Their names were given as Quacy Heywood, of Eagles Basket-ball Club and Randolph Goodluck, the son of police officer Ransford Goodluck who is a sharpshooter with the Guyana Rifle Association.
Randolph Goodluck is also a member of the Courts Pacesetters Basketball Club, while Douglas played for the University of Guyana and Emperor's Basketball teams. The dead teen was described as a "very strong candidate" for this year's Junior Guyana Team.
A release from the Police Public Relations Office, issued three hours after the 9:10 am shooting, stated that "the police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a shooting incident, which resulted in the death of a man and the wounding of another, during a confrontation with a police patrol about 9:20 hours at the corner of Duncan and Sheriff streets. Three men have been arrested and taken into custody. Further information will be released later."
Reports reaching this newspaper said the five young men had just finished playing ball at a court in Campbellville and were heading to the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Homestretch Avenue, when Grey, who was driving, decided to stop and enquire whether his sister's lesson was over.
Stabroek News understands that as the car slowed down, they were "cut off" by the group of policemen travelling in a green Rav 4 vehicle. The cops reportedly opened fire on the teens while they were still in the car.
According to reports, Grey had begun to slow down the car upon approaching Bonasika street, where his sister attends lessons, and turned to look at the Rav 4 vehicle pulling up alongside the car when he was shot in the face. Reports said as Grey slumped forward, Douglas, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was hit by the volley of bullets. Stabroek News understands that King, Goodluck and Heywood were in the back seat of the car. King was reportedly shot in the arm when he reached forward to grab the steering wheel after Grey was shot.
"He [Grey] turned to look and was shot straight in his jaw and the guy that got shot in his hand [King], after the guy got shot in his jaw, he was in the back and he reached forward to hold the steering wheel," explained businessman Joe Hamilton, who together with attorney-at-law Raphael Trotman, visited Stabroek News' office to represent the interest of the affected families.
A witness in the vicinity of the shooting told this newspaper yesterday that it was around 9:10 am, when he heard a series of gunshots from what sounded like a small arm.
"They were single shots... constantly. After I hear that, I secured myself... About five minutes later, after the shooting eased, I decided to go and see," the source related.
The man said when he emerged, he saw five men lying on Sheriff street, at the head of Bonasika street and two vehicles - a grey motorcar, with all four doors open and a green Rav 4 vehicle - parked in the middle of the street, facing south.
According to the witness, two of the men on the road were lying in pools of blood. He said four armed men, dressed in plain clothes, were standing over the group. Three of the men standing had "long" guns raised in the air, while the fourth had what appeared to be a .38 handgun.
"The one in all-over black clothes made me think they were police... One had on a carnival shirt and the other two had on plain clothes. The one in carnival shirt was moving around and trying to assist one [of the wounded men]," the man said, describing the attire of the law enforcers.
He further recounted that after about five minutes, he saw the man in the "carnival" shirt assisting one of the wounded teens to the Rav 4 vehicle. He said the other young man who was lying in the pool of blood appeared to be dead. His body was later lifted and placed in the Rav 4.
"He was taking him to go to the Rav 4, but he [the wounded youth] fall. When he fall, he [the man in the carnival shirt] grab he by the shoulder and drag him into the vehicle. The other one was not moving at all."
The witness further stated that the body of the motionless youth was placed into the Rav 4, while the other three were ordered up from the road and into the car.
One of Trotman's concerns was that the teens were first taken to a police station to be fingerprinted, before they were escorted to the hospital.
Reports reaching this newspaper state that another man, who was riding his motorcycle from the direction of the National Cultural Centre on Homestretch Avenue, was forced to throw himself off the bike and into the nearby drain to escape the volley of shots.
Residents in the area all said they heard rapid gunshots, but did not witness anything, since they took cover until it was over.
"I heard the gunshots and when I came outside, I saw a man falling out of a car," one woman claimed. Thereafter, several vanloads of policemen arrived on the scene and questioned several persons in the vicinity. The only evidence of the shooting after they left was a pair of slippers and a large pool of blood on Sheriff street.
At Douglas's home yesterday, the young man's grief- stricken mother was being comforted by relatives and close friends. Relatives were incensed over the police's allegation of a confrontation.
"What confrontation? What confrontation? Yohance left this house at 8:20 this [Saturday] morning... The boys would come and pick him up to go and play basketball in Prashad Nagar... What confrontation?" one woman asked heatedly.
Bobby Cadogan, coach of the Pacesetters Club, speaking about Goodluck and Grey, told this newspaper: "Those are two young players who just came up to the senior level... Goodluck became inactive because of an injury and couldn't play last night [Friday night]. I am sorry to hear about Yohance. He was a very strong candidate for the Guyana Junior Team this year... he also represented UG, which won the knock tournament on his strength. These guys... I know them as students. When they come to practice, they are always with a basketball and don't make trouble, so I am surprised to hear about this."
One of Douglas's teammates described him as "very, very quiet."
Hamilton told Stabroek News that the incident bothers him, since his son, too, played with the five young and could have been in the vehicle with them.
"The... family is of the view that this is some form of profiling... And we hope that it is not so and that the police will give a clear and proper investigation and explanation for what has happened," Trotman told this newspaper.
