| – gang linked to Wakenaan and Meten-Meer-Zorg robberies/murderResidents of the West Coast Demerara community of Meten-Meer-Zorg were yesterday caught in the centre of a movie-style shootout between police and gunmen that ended with one suspect dead and ten others in custody.Dead: Kirk BacchusPolice sources said last night linked the gang to the murder, two Tuesdays ago, of Zulficar ‘Vicky’ Namdar, 25, and the recent attack by heavily-armed bandits at the home of a prominent Wakenaam businessman.Kirk Bacchus, of Paradise, East Coast Demerara, was slain around 10:00 hrs on Tarla Dam, allegedly after shooting at police ranks, who were pursuing him and an accomplice in a taxi.Eyewitnesses said that Bacchus was wearing a jersey which identified him as a Guyana Power and Light (GPL) employee.Two other suspects were captured in the community, while a third, who was armed, escaped. Police sources said that ranks subsequently rounded up eight more suspects believed linked to a massive gang. Sources said that the suspects are from Parika, East Bank Essequibo, Georgetown and Paradise on the east Coast of Demerara.Police said that they recovered a loaded 9mm pistol and impounded two vehicles that the gunmen had used. Kaieteur News understands that police recovered a second handgun yesterday evening.At press time, police were said to be following clues that may lead to the recovery of the gang’s high-powered arsenal.Kaieteur News understands that Kirk Bacchus was a suspect in the murder of an Enterprise, East Coast Demerara resident during the height of the crime wave that erupted in 2002.Police said that three of the gunmen had stayed overnight in an unfinished house in Kastev Housing Scheme, Meten-Meer-Zorg, after breaking into the empty premises. Indications are that they had planned further attacks on prominent business places.However, police got word about the plan and ranks in plainclothes staked out the area overnight and yesterday.A release stated that, acting on information that an armed robbery had been planned, the police staked out an area at Kastev Housing Scheme, Meten-Meer-Zorg Monday morning.“About 10:00hrs, two motor vehicles, bearing number plates HB 7644 and PPP 9366, drove up and four men, two of whom were armed with handguns, exited the vehicles.The taxi used in the pursuit“The police ranks challenged the men who opened fire on them. The police returned fire fatally wounding Kirk Bacchus, of Paradise, ECD. A 9mm. pistol with two live rounds was recovered.”“Two of the other men have been arrested and the motor vehicles seized by the police. The fourth man, who is armed with a firearm, escaped and is being pursued by the police,” the release said.Kaieteur News understands that the cops on the stakeout were apparently caught off guard when the other bandits showed up at the house in two vehicles at around 10:00 hrs and during a brief shootout, the gunmen scattered in various directions.Construction workers at the nearby Meten-Meer-Zorg Health Centre said they heard the gunshots and saw several men with ‘big guns’ in plainclothes running.The workmen men said they quickly sought refuge in the health centre and nurses locked the building.This newspaper was told that after the gunmen scattered, two plainclothes ranks commandeered a taxi and pursued Kirk Bacchus, who was on foot, and another man, who was on a stolen bicycle.SHOT AT TAXIThe taxi driver told Kaieteur News that he was going out on duty when a man in plainclothes ordered him to stop and identified himself as a policeman. According to the driver, the policeman and another plainclothes rank entered his car and ordered him to follow a man who was running and another on a bicycle.But he said that the fleeing men realised that they were being pursued and one of them fired “about seven shots” at his taxi. At least two of the bullets struck the windscreen.The gunmen used this building as a hideout.He said that they trailed the men to another section of Meten-Meer-Zorg known as Tarla Dam, where police killed one of the men, later identified as Kirk Bacchus.A woman who lives nearby said that she was in her bottom flat when she heard a loud sound on her roof. “I think that is the people upstairs throw something on the house, then I hear ‘badam-badam,’ and I tell my daughter to come inside.This was followed by a barrage of gunfire.“I see one man riding with speed (west up Tarla Dam) and police running, and then they say that one of them dead.” The woman also confirmed that the slain man was wearing a jersey that identified him as a GPL employee.A GPL official said that Bacchus was never employed by the power company. The official said that the company is still attempting to ascertain whether any relatives of the slain man were GPL staffers.Teachers at the Meten-Meer-Zorg Nursery and Primary School, a stone’s throw from the area where the drama began, said they tried to calm the terrified pupils. A teacher said that when she heard the first gunshot she initially thought that a transformer had blown.“I thought it was a transformer, because when you look out, you could see the smoke in the air.”“The children hear it too and you couldn’t stop them from looking, while some of them started screaming and crying.“But when we look we saw the men running up the road. But we didn’t know who is police or not. They had very big guns, long guns and had casual clothes,” she recalled.Another teacher said the police came to school and advised them to lock the gates,Nike Shoes Mens Clearance Sale, but that was already done. Another told Kaieteur News that parents immediately started to call the school to ascertain that their children were safe.After contacting the Education Department, the woman said permission was given to let parents collect the traumatized children.When Kaieteur News visited the scene yesterday morning, residents were still in a state of panic. They were however relieved that the police had finally caught up with the gang which they believe had been terrorizing the community for the past few weeks.All the residents were in high praise of the ranks, who they said responded promptly and also acted professionally.“The police worked fast; we compliment them for their work,” one woman said. “They didn’t harass anybody, they just told us to lie low.”It was just a week ago that Zulficar ‘Vicky’ Namdar, 25, was shot dead when heavily-armed and masked gunmen invaded the family’s Lot 76 Third Street Meten–Meer–Zorg home.The gunmen reportedly tried to shoot Namdar a second time, but instead wounded his 17-year-old employee Stephen Mohamed. He was shot in the left thigh. Police said that shells recovered at the scene revealed that some of the gunmen were carrying assault rifles.Police had initially detained four men but they have reportedly all been released. |
