The Guyanese who was killed by Surinamese law enforcement on Saturday, was identified as Rodwell Wiggins, 34, a former taxi driver attached to the Oasis Taxi Service.
Reports are that Wiggins was among four persons killed by Surinamese lawmen during a shootout moments after they carried out a brazen daylight robbery on a supermarket.
Another man has been identified as Furgel Grant, 31, of Suriname. Grant had escaped from prison four years ago. He was convicted of a series of armed robberies and only spent one of the five years he received at theHazard Prison before escaping. The third dead man is yet to be identified but is said to have been a Jamaican.
This publication understands that the four men, two of whom were masked, entered a supermarket and held the proprietor and his partner at gunpoint and demanded cash.
One of the workers managed to raise an alarm and the Police were summoned. Upon seeing the Police vehicle, the gunmen opened fire, shattering the windscreen. In retaliation, the Police returned fire, fatally wounding three of them.
One was subsequently arrested and taken to a hospital where he is receiving medical attention under guard.
When contacted, local Crime Chief Hugh Jessemy told this newspaper that he is not in direct contact with his counterparts in Suriname, but confirmed that the Guyana Police Force was apprised of the situation.
When contacts were made with the taxi service, his ex-colleagues refused to provide any information and even denied he worked at the taxi service.
Suriname police are continuing their investigations.
