Men in shoot-out with police at Nabaclis
Wanted man Cambridge killed, three escape
Buxtonians block road in protest
Compton Cambridge, wanted for the murder of a policeman, was shot and killed yesterday by cops following an armed confrontation at his girlfriend’s home in Nabaclis, while three other men, who were with him, escaped.
The confrontation with the law enforcers came amid a shocking crime spree in which four policemen and a number of other people have been slain.
As in many other cases where wanted men have died, the police and residents had dramatically differing accounts of what transpired.
Cambridge whose full name was given as Compton Dolphin Cambridge, known as ‘Nand’ was 28 years old and had last resided at Vigilance, East Coast Demerara.
The shooting occurred at around 3:30 pm and moments later, a Guyana Defence Force helicopter landed in the area with scores of army ranks. The armed men’s presence was a surprise as it was the first time residents had witnessed such involvement by the army in the crime fight.
The police said in a press release that a mobile patrol was in the area prior to the shooting and observed a suspicious looking white car which attracted their attention. The release said that shortly after, the mobile patrol approached the car which was parked on a road near a house at Lot 27 Section ‘C’ Nabaclis, south of the railway embankment. On approaching the car, the ranks were greeted with gunfire from the house, the release said, and returned fire.
During this exchange, a resident told this newspaper, glass windows from the house were shattered and neighbours quickly closed up their houses. The police, some 15 in number, were all heavily armed and wore bulletproof vests, the resident told Stabroek News during a visit to the area. They continued to shoot at the house while Cambridge and his three accomplices kept up their exchange.
A resident related that the men could be seen in the house, bending low. But the police, who were heavily armed, used their advantage and shot at regular intervals at the house. The resident said it became apparent that the men’s ammunition had run out when they stopped firing at the police. The police continued to shoot for a while and then began to advance on the house.
The police release said that they entered the house and discovered Cambridge’s body lying on the floor, mortally wounded and that he had been wearing a blue bulletproof vest. The police also stated that the three other men allegedly escaped in another car taking Cambridge’s firearm with them, after abandoning the white car, which was towed away by the police and taken into custody.
A resident, who was watching through a peephole in another house, said that as the police advanced, the four men burst out of the house. Three of them fled westward, while Cambridge ran towards another house at the back of the yard. It was there, the resident said, that the ranks shot Cambridge and he apparently died under a wooden bench. The resident said that the police then dragged Cambridge’s body back into the house. The resident claimed, contrary to the police release, that Cambridge had not been wearing a bulletproof vest at the time he was shot dead. Bandits, in the series of attacks since the February 23 escape of five men from the Camp Street Prison, have been wearing bulletproof vests and this has raised concerns about where the protective gear was obtained from.
A girl who was also in the house with Cambridge’s girlfriend, Taffy Solomon, during the exchange of gunfire, was shot in the shoulder. The Cove and John Secondary school student was later taken to the hospital by a close relative. For over two hours. Cambridge’s bleeding body lay in the house while the police ranks observed from outside before a hearse from the Newburg Funeral Parlour arrived and removed the body.
The back house that Cambridge might have been running to, is where his girlfriend’s mother resides. The 73-year-old woman yesterday complained that her house was ransacked by the police and many of her glass windows were shattered. According to the woman, she was at home at the time of the incident, when ranks forced open the two-bedroom, one- flat home, threw her clothes and other household articles on the floor and released tear- gas in the house.
When Stabroek News arrived at the scene a huge crowd had gathered on the street. The police had cordoned off the house where Cambridge was shot, while the GDF ranks kept watch not far from where the helicopter had landed. Angry residents nearby lamented the manner in which the man was shot. They claimed that he was running away from the police and they could have apprehended him rather than fatally shooting him.
The acrid smell of teargas was still in the air and the 73- year-old said that up to late last evening she could not have entered her house because of the effects of the smoke. Further, parts of her house were also burnt.
At about 6:30 pm, just after the police and the hearse bearing Cambridge’s body had headed off towards the city, residents of Buxton appeared on the Public Road and blocked all vehicles travelling to and from the upper and lower East Coast. This disturbance, according to an eyewitness, lasted for about 25 minutes and commuters and mini-bus operators were ejected from their buses. Some of them were reportedly beaten and their vehicles’ windscreens shattered. The source said that scores of young Buxtonians — men and women — armed with heavy steel implements and big bricks confronted cars and minibuses and tossed the missiles on the windscreens and on other parts of the vehicles.
The Railway Embankment Road, which had been blocked and dug up by residents after the killing of Buxtonian, Shaka Blair by police, and had been repaired recently by GDF ranks, was also blocked. The source said that many drivers, rather than risk running the gauntlet, parked in front of the Vigilance Police Station. However, no police officer went into the area at this time. While travelling through the village this newspaper could see shattered glass on the road.
An eyewitness told this newspaper that one minibus was so severely damaged that it was impossible to recognise the main parts of it. The minibus, according to the witness, was taken off the public road after the driver and passengers were ejected. It was taken into Company Road, Buxton where the residents removed vehicle parts and severely dented it.
When Stabroek News checked on the state of the minibus it could not have been found nor could the driver. Stabroek News understands that some of the passengers were injured while the men threw the stones on the mini-bus and the driver was reportedly held hostage.
On May 14 the Guyana Police Force had issued a wanted bulletin for Cambridge for a series of robberies and murder including the shooting to death of Detective Sergeant Harry Kooseram, who was shot six times on April 15 as he was riding to work from home. Cambridge was also wanted for the shooting of a couple in Friendship, ECD on April 26. The police had identified the couple as Brian Chester, 37 and his reputed wife Dionne Glasgow, both of 144 Brush Dam, Friendship ECD. He was also linked to the shooting of the four police officers at Coldingen, ECD on May
25. The four officers who were shot that night were: Sherwin Alleyne, Marlon Cruickshank, Ray Guiness and Ravi Outar. Alleyne succumbed on May 27 and was laid to rest last Sunday in his hometown New Amsterdam, Berbice.
