The gunman killed in a shootout with members of the security forces at Christmas Falls, Upper Berbice River has been identified as a 21-year-old Buxtonian who had left his mother’s home some two years ago and never returned.
Otis Fifee called ‘Mud-Up” of 154, Friendship, East Coast Demerara was cornered and killed by the lawmen Friday evening. His mother, Wendy Fifee, said yesterday that she had made him, but not his mind.
Speaking to reporters yesterday morning, Guyana Defence Force Chief-of-Staff, Commodore Gary Best, said the joint services had a wide area of coverage and planned to scan Orealla and Siparuta in the upper reaches of the Corentyne River. Best said the operation, in addition to tracking down the criminals, also involved sealing off exit routes. “We are blocking all areas and preventing them from returning to Linden or going to Suriname,” Best asserted.
Stabroek News was told that ever since the Lusignan slaughter, the gunmen operating out of Buxton had moved to Linden from where they launched the attack on Bartica. Following that incident they returned to Linden and had been there up to recently before the security forces moved in on them forcing them to flee to Christmas Falls.
Meanwhile, Wendy Fifee said her son, who had been named in a police wanted bulletin back in February, had moved out from her home two years ago. She said she did not know where he went nor what he was involved in. “You does make children, but not their mind,” Fifee, remarked tearfully.
Buxtonians said the young man had never left the village and was involved in criminal activities with the Buxton/Agricola criminal gang. “He was a known bandit and everybody knows about him and he was always there,” an elderly woman told Stabroek News yesterday. Wendy Fifee said she recognised her son yesterday morning after seeing the Kaieteur News, which had published his corpse on its front page. “I know it was he, even though he went away so long I recognised my son,” the woman said.
Denying knowing about her son’s escapades, Fifee said once he left her home she was not in touch with him and did not know what he was up to. “I don’t know what he been doing. You does hear a lot of things but I ain’t know,” she said.
Villagers said the young man grew up poor and was led astray by friends and only recently he graduated into a full-fledged member of the criminal gang. Buxton has turned out a number of the country’s armed criminals and village leaders in the past had blamed this on the lack of opportunities in the community.
A top security official had told this newspaper on Sunday that Rawlins’ criminal infrastructure was crumbling and he expressed optimism that the fugitive and his troops, currently ensconced deep in the jungle, would be captured. However, up to press time last night there was still no further sighting of the men around six of whom had eluded capture Friday evening.
The joint services said they were combing the area by air, land and water. They said too that all exit routes have been closed and air surveillance by the recently acquired Bell 206 helicopters was being conducted along the Corentyne River and other areas.
Responding to intelligence, the lawmen went into the Christmas Falls area some 300 miles up the Berbice River on Friday, where they came under fire.
They responded and killed Fifee, but the rest of the gang managed to escape leaving behind a cache of arms and ammunition, some of which has been confirmed by police as having been stolen from the Bartica Police station, the night that community came under siege by gunmen.
Weapons belonging to Bartica miner Chunilall Baboolall whose business place was attacked and robbed during that incident were also recovered.
The joint services had posited that they were certain that `Fineman’ and several of his senior lieutenants were among those who escaped. In a press release on Saturday the security forces said Rawlins and his men were hiding out in a desolate jungle location in the Christmas Falls, Upper Berbice River area. In addition to recovering the weapons, the lawmen unearthed a diary, which provided incontrovertible evidence of Rawlins’ planning and executing of the slaughters at Lusignan and Bartica, taking vengeance for the death of his sister and a number of telephone numbers. Three FN rifles, four shotguns, one .32 revolver, two AK-47 magazines, seven FN rifle magazines, along with 1,159 rounds of 7.62 x 39 ammunition, 143 rounds of 7.62 x 51 ammunition, 10 rounds .38 ammunition, one round of .32 ammunition and 36 12-gauge cartridges were recovered in the desolate jungle area where the men were hiding out.
The press release said the men were housed in a location with four buildings. They had foodstuff to last several weeks in a large kitchen, which also had a gas stove, generator and solar energy. In addition, there were six portable tents, four hammocks, three mattresses, a mini-stereo system, a DVD player, a cell phone, a hand-held radio set, items of clothing, medical supplies and a Bible, which were all abandoned as the gang fled.
