A teenager and a man were shot by police yesterday during an operation in East Ruimveldt which they said targeted wanted man `Cobra’ but residents said there was reckless shooting by the law enforcers who have since said that they were fired at and responded.
Osafie Johnson, 17, of Lot 707, East Ruimveldt was under heavy police guard at the High Dependency Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital last night after being shot in the upper left shoulder and left foot. The police said that Johnson was one of five men who were spotted with wanted man ‘Cobra’ and he was found with a gun but the injured teen’s relatives say he was at home, having just finished eating, when he was shot.
In a statement last night, police said that at about 3 pm yesterday, ranks of a police anti-crime patrol, acting on information received, confronted ‘Cobra’ and a group of five other men who were on the roadway at East Ruimveldt Front Road. “On seeing the police ‘Cobra’ and two of the men began running, one of whom opened fire on the police. The police returned fire during which Johnson of East Ruimveldt Front Road was shot to his upper left shoulder and left foot. A 9mm Beretta pistol with three matching rounds was found in his possession and he has been admitted a patient under guard at the GPHC”, the police said.
The statement said that two more of the group of men, were arrested by the police but ‘Cobra’ and two others managed to escape.
An eyewitness had another version. She told Stabroek News that sometime before 3 pm, two men were riding a motorcycle up and down Front Road. She said another man was close to the ‘School entrance’ alleyway and called one of the men on the motorcycle, who she identified as Johnson. At the same time, a sports utility vehicle with two men inside appeared close-by. According to the woman, as the men on the motorcycle turned, one of the men in the vehicle shouted “look he deh dey, look he dey deh, shoot he now”, apparently referring to Johnson. She said the vehicle pulled close and even before it stopped, one of the men began firing his weapon. The two men, who were in civilian clothes then stepped out and “start shooting up”, the woman said.
She said the motorcycle fell on the feet of one man as Johnson fled. She said that the men then took the other man, placed him in the middle of the road with the gun to his temple and stomach and as persons came out of their homes, they began cursing and telling the people to move. ”They continue shooting more and more bullets”, she said.
She said one of the men, who was firing his gun, was wearing a yellow jersey. He stood on the road while his colleague re-entered the vehicle and drove a little way off, with residents thinking that it was a drive-by shooting. By then police in uniform had turned up and as they ran along the East La Penitence dam, a female rank began firing her gun, according to the witness.
Residents said over twenty shots were fired and this newspaper observed at least three spent shells as well as several holes in fences. The police captured two men while the third escaped. The third man reportedly ran east along the East La Penitence dam and was pursued by police.
Relatives said that Johnson had just finished eating and was at his 707 East Ruimveldt home when he was shot. According to a relative, he saw two plain clothes police ranks running towards the home when he heard a loud explosion, following which Johnson, who was standing at the gate, fell. The relative said he rushed to the injured teen and asked the rank why he had shot the boy in his back and according to him, the policemen continued on their way, saying “help go come jus now”. The rank who shot Johnson also shouted to his colleague that “we shoot the wrong man” as they ran in the direction of Mandela Avenue, the relative recounted. He described the man and said he was “arrogant”.
Johnson was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital by his relatives. His mother said that he had walked to the gate of his home, which is a short distance away from where the police had initially started their operation, when he was shot. She said her son had only recently completely secondary school and had no grievances with anyone or had any trouble with the law. “The police don’t even know who they want”, she said, pointing out that her son’s condition is serious. Upset relatives said that Johnson was “wrongfully shot” and said they are not going to take the matter lightly.
The boy’s aunt, who said she witnessed the incident, recalled that the two police ranks said they were in search of two men, ‘Cobra’ and ‘Barrow’, who are wanted by the police. The police searched several homes including Johnson’s after the shooting. Neigbours complained about the conduct of the officers as they searched their homes.
Meantime, earlier, the police arrested the two men and placed them in a vehicle as a crowd gathered. Some persons said the men were not from the area. Pointing to several spent shells and bullet holes in fences, they condemned the police action as reckless saying that there were people including children around, at the time.
Lorraine Dowding told Stabroek News she was in her bedroom at her 37 East Front Road Squatting Area home watching television when she heard the gunshots. “All I coulda do is lay on me bed and pull the pillow over me head”, the shaken woman said while nearby her grandchild, cried, still traumatized. When Dowding went outside, she saw a window pane shattered and bullet holes through her curtains. “I got two grandchild and I thank God they ain’t dey in the house”. She said she had only changed her curtains on Saturday and a tub filled with clothes was also punctured by a bullet.
Meanwhile, former national football player, Dexter Bentick, 32, was grazed by a bullet, which struck his left shoulder and stomach. Police, in their statement said that he was “in the vicinity at the time of the exchange of gunfire between the police and the men (and) sustained a graze wound to his abdomen.
But Bentick said he was deliberately shot at by the policeman, who was dressed in a yellow jersey. He recalled that he heard the gunshots and had gone out. He told Stabroek News the policeman asked him where he was going and he responded he was going across the road. “He just look at me and blam, he fire off a round”, Bentick recalled. He said that a child was close to him and sand kicked up by the bullet, hit the child. When he was speaking to Stabroek News, the policeman in the yellow jersey passed by and Bentick told him “you coulda kill me” to which the policeman replied “you got to listen when people talk”. It was the same policeman, who began the shooting and shot Johnson, residents said.
Police Senior Superintendent, D. Josiah was at the scene and he said he was there to find out what was going on. Last night, police were at the hospital grilling Johnson.
Police say `Cobra’ is the head of a gang which has been committing gun crimes in the city but so far no information, photograph or wanted bulletin has been released. The only information released was the alias, ‘Cobra,’ and the fact that along with the other members of his gang he is being pursued by the force’s anti-crime unit. However, following the execution of his brother, relatives gave the wanted man’s name as Tyrone Rowe.
Last Saturday, Jamal ‘Radio’ Beete was found dead, with a gunshot wound to the head in a George Street house. Relatives later confirmed that Beete was the older brother of Rowe. Contacted yesterday, the men’s mother Donna told this newspaper that at the age of eight months, Rowe was taken to live with his maternal grandmother. In tears, the woman said that she didn’t raise Rowe and hadn’t been in contact with him in recent times.
