Buxton gunman dies after firing at joint patrol
Gang opened fire from cane fields
Stabroek News
May 21, 2003
A Buxton resident who was part of a gang which opened fire on a joint army/police patrol in the village yesterday, was shot dead when the patrol returned fire.
A release from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) yesterday said Kurt John, 24, of 159 Company Road, Buxton was shot dead at around midday. It was the latest confrontation between the security services and gunmen in the village since anti-crime operations intensified last week.
The release said that John along with three other persons, opened fire on the patrol from the cane fields, south of the Railway Embankment road and he was fatally shot when the patrol returned fire. A second man, suspected to be from the original group, was later cornered and apprehended while two others escaped into the cane fields.
According to the release, a .32 Taurus pistol with twelve live rounds was found in John's possession. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
The release stated that John had been wanted in connection with the October 14 murder of Nolan Anderson, 22-years-old of Friendship, East Coast Demerara, who died during an altercation with the suspect over a pig.
The army press release said troops also searched an abandoned shop on Company Road, south of the Railway Embankment and a number of articles were seized. These articles included two sleeping bags, one green military belt, two pairs of boots, one 30-inch Sharp television, one tape recorder and one speaker. According to information gathered by the GDF Intelligence Department, this shop was a suspected lookout/early warning point used by the bandits, and was searched on numerous occasions in the past.
The latest shooting follows a number of joint army/police patrols in the village since the shooting death of GDF Lance Corporal, Shemton Dodson, 24, on Thursday.
Also killed in that incident was wanted man Mark Anthony Phillips and Leslie Anthony Peters.
On Friday more shooting erupted in the village as the GDF moved to clear some of the roads that had been blocked. Gary Anthony Smith was shot and killed on the same day in a confrontation with the police.
On Saturday, the army and police rescued kidnapped businessman Viticharran Singh from a house on Company Road and four men were arrested and handed over to the police.
And on Sunday the army and police conducted a number of cordon and search operations in the area and four persons were arrested following the discovery of two motorcycles suspected to be stolen. One of the cycles is also suspected to have been used by February 23 escapee, Shawn Brown.
Deon Gordon, 23, was also shot by members of an army patrol on Sunday after he was challenged to stop. He proceeded to pull something out of a black bag and this prompted the army to fire at him. But when the bag was searched it was found that it contained marijuana. Gordon lost his right arm as a result of the shooting.
And on Monday, a police/ army operation arrested seven persons, including a relative of Brown, searched 89 houses and questioned 87 individuals. Two suspected stolen motorcycles were also recovered and handed over to the police along with a number of illegal items.
