Bandit
shot
dead
after robbery
William Forde, 34, of 34 East La
Penitence, who along with an accomplice
robbed the home of an ice and hollow block
dealer yesterday morning, was shot dead by
the police. The police also recovered a
.32 pistol which the dead Forde was said
to be carrying.
The incident occurred in ‘C' Field,
Sophia at around 10:00 hours.
Eyewitnesses related that the two
bandits had entered the home of George
Hanover, called Ice Man, and using
‘Bass,' had sprayed a contractor before
using the noxious gas on the homeowner's
wife, Annie Ramlogan. They also kicked her
in the stomach as they demanded cash and
jewellery.
Nothing-on-Roger
Khan
One resident said that two women who
were visiting from Barbados were in the
house with Hanover 's wife when the
bandits struck. According to sources, the
men robbed the women of cash and jewellery,
before attempting to escape.
Some residents said both bandits, who
were armed with guns, fired several shots
in the air while running from the home.
This time, however, there was no easy
escape.
One eyewitness, who lives nearby, said
he looked through his window after hearing
the gunshots and saw two men running from
the home of his neighbour. The man said he
immediately raised an alarm and gave chase
with other residents. He said as they
chased the robbers, more public spirited
residents joined in following the bandits.
The chase, which began in ‘C' Field,
Sophia, crossed over into ‘B' Field and
ended in ‘A' Field, where they cornered
Forde.
Meanwhile, Hanover, who said that he
had left his residence no more than five
minutes before the robbery occurred, raced
back home. He said en route he met the
contractor, who told him that the gunmen
were in his home.
He said that he confronted the men, who
discharged a round in his direction and
started running. Hanover said that he
trailed them to the Lamaha Canal , where
they split up. But by this time a group of
residents had joined in the chase.
At ‘A' Field, the bandits disappeared
into some thick bushes along the dam
separating the canal from the homes of
residents. While some searched the toilets
and yards of residents, others thrashed
the bushes along the dam in search of the
men.
However, according to many, it was
revealed a while later by an observant
resident that Forde had plunged into a
trench near the conservancy (the Blacka)
while his accomplice somehow escaped the
angry mob.
Barricading the conservancy, residents
discovered Forde in the trench amid some
very tall grass. Realising he was
cornered, Forde whipped out a handgun from
his waist, shot at his pursuers and
crossed over to the dam south of the
conservancy, desperately attempting to
escape.
More residents gathered and cordoned
off the area, preventing the man from
otherwise disappearing.
Bricks, bottles and other objects were
the order of the day as residents rained
any object within their reach at the
location where they sighted the bandit.
One resident said he began attempting
to intimidate the bandit by shouting that
he was armed with a pistol, which sent the
man into frenzied shooting as residents
dived for cover.
He said that as the man shot, he, the
ex-soldier, kept shouting to Forde that he
knew how many rounds Forde had left.
The man said that he tried to summon
the East La Penitence police via his
cellular phone but failed, which prompted
him to use a motorbike as transportation
to the station.
“They immediately sent a patrol
vehicle to the area. When the police
arrived, the man, still cornered, fired a
shot at the police and jumped into the ‘Blacka'.
There was an exchange of gunfire between
him and the police, and I think that was
when he got finished.”
Forde was said to have been scheduled
to leave for Barbados tomorrow.
Some residents said the other bandit,
known to many in Sophia as ‘Bald Head'
and Black Boy, who lives in Lodge and
whose mother vends at the Lodge Government
School, escaped using a dam that led out
of the ‘A' Field area.
Hanover , by this time, was hot on his
trail. He said that he chased the man all
the way to the vicinity of Mayor Hamilton
Green's residence, where he summoned help
from a guard at the location. Up to news
time, the gunman remained at large.
The dead gunman's sister said that two
men, whom she identified as Tall Boy and
Black Boy, picked up her brother from home
at about 07:00 hours. She said that she
got the news from people in the Sophia
area.
Hanover had been robbed on four
previous occasions. “The government de
gi me wha ah ask for, so I could do
something this time, so I didn't
frighten,” the man related.
According to Hanover , the robbers had
extracted some $300,000 in jewellery and
$200,000 in cash from the home before
escaping.
Forde's brother was said to have been
executed over a year ago while riding his
motorcycle on his way home.
When relatives arrived while Forde's
body was still on the scene, they erupted
in screams and wails. His wife, who bore
him three children, fainted.
There were confrontations between
Forde's relatives and the Sophia
residents, who vehemently gloated over his
death. While some shouted “Anybody
try fuh rob we must dead”, others
shouted, “He right
fuh dead, he too thief”.
The police prevented any physical
confrontation.
(Alex Wayne)
Friday,
April 13, 2007
