Third pirate identified
The third pirate, who was killed on Friday morning in a shoot-out with police at Cromarty Corentyne, has been identified by the police as 25-year old Hugh Gillis of Dazzell Housing Scheme, Paradise, East Coast Demerara.
However, when Stabroek News visited the home of the deceased, his stepfather said that his stepson’s name was Cranston Gills, and he was unaware of his son being known by any other name. The dead man was reportedly identified by his sister who lives in the Corentyne.
The stepfather, who asked not to be named, said he had last heard from his son on Wednesday evening when he contacted him to find out if he was coming home. Gills had replied that he would be returning home the following morning.
The man said that Gills used to work in the bush but returned home and began doing construction and upholstery work, and that from time to time he would travel about doing odd jobs.
He added that his son was also friends with Cliff Chichester of Mahaicony (another of the pirates who was killed) and who used to reside in the same community. According to the father, his son wanted to join the army like his friend. The man said that as far as he was aware his stepson had never been involved in any criminal activity and he had been surprised when he heard the news of his death. He leaves to mourn his parents, three siblings and a two-year-old daughter.
Members of the community also expressed surprise at the news, with some residents saying that he never seemed to be the criminal type.
Meanwhile, when Stabroek News visited the home of Chichester’s mother she declined to speak. Neigh-bours, however, told this newspaper that Chichester had stopped living with his mother for some time now.
The third bandit had earlier been identified as ex-soldier, James Gibson.
Detective Constable Travis Oslyn Glasgow, attached to the Whim Police Station was killed when the pirates opened fire on the police. They returned fire killing the three heavily-armed pirates.
Veerasammy Narinesammy
The police had responded to a report that the pirates had been spotted pulling in a boat at the Cromarty foreshore, which they had hijacked from a fisherman, Bisham Moteelall, on Thursday.
The body of Hector Boodhoo, 57, a fisherman of Rose Hall Town, who had been missing since around 4 pm on Thursday, was found tied to a tree among some bushes at Port Mourant with cuts to his ear and the back of his head. A piece of multi-coloured cloth was tied to his head.
After Boodhoo did not go home, relatives launched a search for him on Thursday night but came up empty-handed. They continued the search the following morning and came upon the body among the bushes.
The police recovered two AK-47 rifles and one 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a quantity of ammunition including seven AK-47 magazines, 178 rounds 7.62 x 39 ammunition, fourteen 12-gauge cartridges and 28 rounds .30 ammunition, 17 round .40 ammunition, 6 rounds .45 ammunition, one round 9mm. ammo and an empty 12-gauge casing.
One of the AK-47 rifles has been identified as being one of those stolen from the Guyana Defence Force. Police also recovered a backpack, which contained the men’s belongings including a quantity of marijuana, clothing, toothbrushes, cell phone chargers, two SIM cards, a few tennis rolls in a packet and a bottle of all purpose oil; presumably used to clean the guns.
Bulletproof vest
Glasgow was struck in his chest by a bullet which passed through his bulletproof vest. When the matter of the quality of the vests which are issued to law enforcement was raised with senior officers, this newspaper was told that those which the police in Berbice were using had been tested and had been proven to be of good quality. They said that the vests had no problem but the bullet had penetrated the one Glasgow had on because “the calibre of the weapon was too heavy.”
Drama at foreshore
Veerasammy Narinesammy, 61, of Rose Hall Town, who was the first person whom the gunmen held hostage on Thursday, said that around 7 am he was about “to cross the channel” to go to Port Mourant when he saw a boat.
He did not see anyone but after he passed the boat a pirate emerged from among the bushes and pointed a gun at his head and asked him how far away Skeldon was.
The pirate allowed him to go on his way but told him he would meet his two pirate-partners further up and that he should tell them to join him. Narinesammy never conveyed the message, because some distance away one of the two bandits suddenly pounced on him and placed a gun to his head while ordering him to call another fisherman or he would “blow me head off.”
He complied and by that time the other gunman as well as the first one he had encountered, made their appearance.
At that stage two other fishermen could be seen approaching and the gunmen ordered Narinesammy to call them as well. The pirates took the three men into the bushes.
Around 9 am, he said, Boodhoo was coming into shore and he noticed that the boat the pirates had used had cut his net and so he “come up to them and tell them don’t do it again.”
The vessel was the MV Mark Counter 2 which had been hijacked with its five crew members in the Mahaicony River on Wednesday.
Narinesammy told him to sit down and then he [Boodhoo] realized that the men were bandits. Boodhoo then gave the gunmen two bananas and a mango he had in a bag and they ate them.
After learning that Boodhoo’s four brothers were still in the water repairing their seines, one of the pirates went with Boodhoo escort them into the bush as well. Boodhoo was never seen alive again, while his brothers did not encounter the pirate.
Afterwards one of the pirates who Narinesammy described as the “good one who treat we good” gave them cigarettes, tennis rolls with cheese as well as nuts.
Shortly after the pirate left with Boodhoo, the Coast Guard vessel arrived with four men. The bandits then took Narinesammy and three other men deeper into the bushes.
They all watched while two men came out of the Coast Guard vessel and went into the fishing boat that was equipped with two engines which they worked on before leaving in it. While this was taking place the pirates had their guns trained on the boats.
After the fishing boat left the pirates got angry and bound the fishermen using straps from the guns as well as other pieces of string from their bags.
The pirate who had taken Boodhoo returned at around 4.30 pm and told his accomplices that he had a boat they could use. The boat they were referring to belonged to a fisherman, Bisham Moteelall, 51, who was at that point coming in with his catch.
The “good” pirate was ordered to kill the fishermen but instead he told them to remain in the bush until he and the other two had left and then free themselves.
Around 5 pm one of the fishermen called ‘Fineman’ was able to set himself free and then assisted the others. After that they ran through the thick bushes at top speed “without looking back.”
Narinesammy joked, “This was not for a prize; this was for we life. I couldn’t even believe that an old man like me coulda run so fast to match up with them young boys.”
They were on their way out when they reached Motilall and his family. He said they checked to see if Boodhoo had reached home, and when they discovered he had not, they returned with his family to search for him.
He said each pirate had a cell phone and they made contact with persons and told them to put credit on their phones. Every time they finished making a call they turned off the phone and removed the SIM card.
Post-traumatic
stress
Moteelall’s wife Chandrawattie Sookdeo told this newspaper yesterday that her husband who had not eaten since the incident was still deeply traumatized and was “talking to himself.” She said she he would have to seek medical attention.
She said she and her daughter Shaleza, 20, were at the shore waiting to assist him when they were attacked. She said her husband was stressed out from the ordeal and kept wondering what would have happened to his wife and daughter if the pirates had killed him.
He was about to tie up his boat when the pirates ordered him to empty it and he complied. They had taken him out to the sea in the boat and he had begged for his life before they threw him out as his wife watched in fear.
Chandrawattie said she prayed daily for protection and felt God was with them that day so the pirates spared their lives.
Shaleza said they tried several times to dial 911 but to no avail and they decided to phone a neighbour who contacted the police who arrived at the scene.
Nowhere to run
Moteelall was aware that there was not much gas left in his tank and knew that it would not be enough to take the pirates very far. He was scouring the area with this in mind when he spotted the men pulling the boat in on Friday.
He immediately contacted his family and they in turn informed the police who responded promptly.
According to an eyewitness, who did not want to be named, “Within minutes dem [the police] don deh hey.” He said the pirates were in a clump of bushes “behind them crudah [courida] trees.” The four policemen saw the pirates, who began running away from them. The police were then taken to “wan short cut and then dem circle dem pirates in the bushes.” Cornered, the pirates began to fire shots at the police who responded.
Police had said in a press release that Gibson was on bail on a charge of possession of a firearm without licence before the court in Berbice. He was reportedly found with a firearm that had been stolen from the Police Outpost at Rose Hall, Corentyne, which had been attacked by armed gunmen.
He was also later jointly charged with Oliver Hinckson, again over the possession of a firearm without a licence, and was also on bail in this matter which is before the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court. He was not attending court in these matters and arrest warrants had been issued for him, according to the release.
Again, I question the wisdom of the magistrates / Judges that give these criminals a second shot of killing innocent people . What an implication…
I first commend the fishermen of Rose Hall Town for the observation and their cooperative responses in alerting the police and families to the pirates/bandits’. Their cooperation with the police was exemplory. It is a deed ALL our citizens need to adopt so as to eventually eradicate these criminals and their plans to attack and rob innocent people.
Secondly, the police office, Det. Const. Travis Glasgow, you’re a hero my man. You died in the line of duty. To your family, my sincere condolences.
People, we need to cooperate with the police as to who the criminals in our midst are and assisting with information. Solving crime begins with us, not the police. It’s for our protection and our families safety that we work with the ploice.
GOOD WORK ONCE AGAIN GPF.
sandman i think if it was your relative that got killed you would have been singing a different tune. you are mad at the police because they killed one of your criminal friends. as for the stepfather of gills, don’t they all say they don’t know their sons were involved in criminal acctivities?
you know something bro………..i am writing these comments with 2 minds…one is that i am not mad its just that i am surprise that Gibson was involved and then again maybe they got what they deserved………..
leave the guy stepfather out of this
Cheryl, your blog is so true and nothing but the truth. Make sure that you upgrade the bullet-proof vest that these police are wearing so that it can with stand any kind of bullets, if they are vests like that, I am not an expert and I do not know if such vest exist. Guyana is our home but the situation that the country is in regarding the crime rate, it sure has made it very difficult for people over here to go home on vacation because we are scared.
I will say this when ever you are going home on holiday never give your correct address and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Some of the police are criminals as we are aware and our information when we are travelling home reaches Gt before we get there and remember those cards that we fill out with our info has where we are going and the boys tell their boys so, so is here and they are staying so, so place and that is how they will find where we are and come and try to break and enter our family’ s home to take what little we came with and may be who knows kill someone, God forbid.
I remember in 2006 I was departing out of JFK and I was give a form to fill out that I never saw or filled out before and I asked the person that gave the form to me, what is this form for and told her that I never filled anything out like trhis before, so she said that you must fill it out it is required and it goes to the immigration in Gt so I said here we go let me fill it out. I filled in an incorrect name
incorrect address, with who would you be staying was one of the question and I put Detective James Scott and the last question was relationship I put LOVER,
and nothing of the sort existed. I am aware that what I wrote has nothing to do with this articile but I wanted to share this with fellow bloggers any way.
Season Greetings my fellow Bloggers and a bright and Prosperous 2009
G on my mind, thanks alot for this advise, because of these criminal activities, I have not visited for over four years, I was constantly spending my vacations there, now families and friends and my driver are cheated out of all the prags I used to take and the monies I used to give to all, Guyanese living there are afraid to speak up for their rights, as for me, I am a citizen of the Uncle Sam and won’t be jailed for speaking up here, that’s my right, and can assure u that Guyana is where I don’t intend to be in the future, maybe never, if the Government don’t change the situations there.
I never thought of that, Georgia. What you wrote is very pertinent to a discussion on safeguarding oneself from murderous parasites. Thanks for the extremely useful advice.
There are so many contradictions and curruptive forces at work in Guyana that I am of the opinion there will never be any truth coming out of there until the PNC , the PPP, and the other parties who at some time dealt with either of them, are totally eradicated like the diseases they are, from my dear country. MY SINCERE CONDOLENCES TO ALL THE VICTIMS OF THIS SAD MATTER. EVERYONE WHO DIED IN THIS IS A VICTIM OF A MESSED UP COUNTRY. THE OFFICER WAS WORKING FOR A FORCE THAT DID NOT EVEN PROVIDE HIM PROTECTIVE CLOTHING, WHICH WOULD HAVE SAVED HIS LIFE, ON A DANGEROUS OPERATION. THE OTHER YOUTHS WERE VICTIMS OF A SYSTEM THAT FAILED THEM. GOD HELP US ALL.
VERY NICE TEACH…… precise & concise.!!!
My friend You live in the States and I live in Canada. Please tell me what failed all the drug pushers/peddlers here? What failed all the mass murderers and psychopaths? What failed all the wife absuers and child molesters here? What or who failed all the cop killers.
Think about ie these criminals choose to be that way and deserve what was metted out to them. There criminals were not victims they were agressive bullies that were cut down before they did something worse.
Condoiences to the police officer’s families and the families of Mr. Boodhoo.
I hope someone set up a trust fund for the officer’s son.
I AGREE WITH YOU 1000% UNTIL THOSE CRABS WE CALL POLITICIANS IN GUYANA ESPECIALLY FROM THE PPP AND PNC ARE BANISHED FROM GUYANA NOTHING GOOD IS GOING TO COME TO BEAUTIFUL GUYANA.THEY HAVE TO BE BANISHED NOT JUST THROWN OUT OTHERWISE THEY WILL SPREAD THEIR DISEASE.
atta girl, teach!
When Oslyn Glasgow was a little boy he never had it easy, and that’s putting it very mildly to those who knew him. He had every reason and more to go astray. No QC, no PC, no headmaster daddy for him, not much $. Yet he never swerved from the straight and narrow. His whole family used to walk from fyrish road to no 1 road (and that’s no short distance) to go to bro campbell church (a very good preacher). There are no easy answers why some go astray and others don’t. Perhaps, “but for the grace of god, there go I,” might be all we can say.
I am glad that someone on this page knew Oslyn Glasgow and where he came from. When good people are cut short in their lives, it is a lost for many.
I’m a big fan of yours
My sincere condolences to the family of the policeman and fisherman, that lost their lives.
Congratulations to the GPF, they are slowly dismantling the criminal enterprise in Guyana. A few weeks ago was the Darr Gang, now its Gibson’s. I think they need to continue investigating, to get to their support i.e. the people who they were calling on the cell phones, etc. These guys are heartless if it wasn’t for the police, the so-called “good criminal” and the efforts of the fishermen, it would have been worse blood bath. Obviously they were not really pirates, but after a bigger prize. The police need to also determine and secure their objective.
so many excuses for these criminals
The family, of the policeman who died in the line of duty, should be fully taken care of and compensated by the GPF and the government. If he had depedent children, they should be looked after by the government until and after they are eighteen years old.
The Administration, needs to establish some sort of ‘ insurance’ which comprehensivey and adequately takes care of dependants of policemen, who perish in the line of duty.
A special fund, should also be established for the victims and their families, who have been traumatised by criminal attacks and murder.
For there to be public confidence in the Police Force and security services; it needs to be adequately trained, equipped, compensated, proffessionalised and made accountable to parliament.
There shoud be no political interferrance and manipulation of the Police and security services by the PPP and PNC; this immediately destroys public trust in and cooperation with the Police and security services.
The political administration has a responsibility to deal with the myriad of social problems and their cause, which engenders criminal activities etc; education, skills training, loans, land and other help, should be given to poor and economically desperate individuals and communities, to set up small and medium businesses, in helping to lift them out of poverty and economic desperation.
Members of the diaspora, can form groups and help bring about substantial change in the above communities, by establishing small skills training centres, in the respective villages and areas of Guyana, especially, in the communities which they lived and have strong affinity. This can be done in parternership with the community churches, cultural, sports, NGO’s and other organisations.
Help; a sewing machine, hair dressing chair and accessories, stoves, tools, computers, equipments etc; can be given, in helpig some individuals to set up small micro businesses of their own.
Solutions, to many of the above problems are within the power of the local communities in Guyana and members of the diaspora; we can and should help in concrete ways, to move poor and needy individuals and communities foward and bring about the change we want to see.
It has been clearly demonstrated, that the Guyana government alone is unable to do this.
So, lets join hands to be part of the change and make it happen.
“Light” of this world, you have a kindred spirit in the form of Linda Harris. Read her blog on the original story.
And if you guys are really serious about being part of the SOLUTION why not set-up up a website where like-minded Guyanese in the diaspora and those “forward-thinking” and progressive ones in the homeland can network and start this REVOLUTION OF CHANGE?
Mind you, we ain’t talking about no new political party here. Give it so some deep thought and enegry, my “Light”. Peace and blessings to you!!!
What a pity, my sympathy to the police officer and the family of Mr.Boodoo.Guyana wake up there are several reasons while people become crimminals, let us just stop passing the buck and see what we can do to resovle the problems that are facing our country. I think to some extent the government is responsible for some of the things that are taking place in our society . Some children are been stifle in that system.My nephew attened a certain high school for six years and to hear he cannot write theCXC because he did not do well at the mock exams and he has to leave school and has not reach the age of eighteen. So what providance is made for such child.