Acting Police Commissioner, David Ramnarine, is supporting the action taken by Police officers involved in the shooting death of three suspected bandits on the Kingston Seawall on Thursday last. He says the use of deadly force is justified.
Last Thursday, Police shot and killed Kwame Assanah, Dextroy Cordis and Errol Adams during a shootout on the Kingston seawalls. The men were reportedly about to rob someone who had just finished a transaction at a city bank and had headed to the seawalls. “The Policemen acted in keeping with the law. They were fired upon, and as law enforcement officers, (they) are authorized to use deadly force; as long as the deadly force is justified, as long as the deadly force is legitimate, to defend themselves. Were those Policemen in the situation (they) found themselves in expendable? Come on, let’s be real! We have to applaud what has happened,” Ramnarine told reporters.
Chronicling the events that led to the shootout, Ramnarine said that, a few days ago, the Police received information that the men were planning the robbery. He said it was through intense surveillance and reliable information that the Police were able to execute their operation successfully.
Ramnarine said he has read social media posts and reports insinuating that the men were executed, rather than being engaged in a shootout.
“No Police officer sets out to execute a citizen. I’ve seen on social media, and read on black and white, (posts) which say in a very strong way that there was some semblance of execution, but I will tell you that the Guyana Police Force, with the strides we have made, the capacity and capability-building that we have done in the last years, no officer sets out to execute anyone,” he said.
Collateral damage
Ramnarine said that while the specifics of what happened could be debated, all the evidence points to the fact that the men were part and parcel of an arrangement to commit a criminal act which attracts serious consequences, and he is happy that was averted. He explained that, had the situation been different, there would have been a lot of collateral damage on Robb Street, Georgetown after the customer had come out of the bank.
“If the Guyana Police Force had not taken that course of action and that (robbery) would have happened there, a lot of collateral damage would have happened on Robb Street, based on the info we received; it is good that it ended up on the seawall, in a more desolate location… I want to make the note that it is not the first time that persons who have left (a) bank would have ended up on the seawall and be robbed. It was not a novelty in that situation,” he noted.
During the shootout, one bandit was able to escape on a CG motorcycle and is yet to be apprehended. Ramnarine has said the Police have information on his whereabouts, and are actively pursuing him.
Following the shooting, Assanah’s relatives have called for an inquiry into his death, and claim that the he could not have been a criminal, since he had had a clean record. Their statement came in response to the Police claiming that he had had a record, however, that has since been clarified, with the Police admitting that no such record exists.
Ramnarine went on to say that despite the hullabaloo surrounding the death of Assanah, no one has come forward to dispute his presence on the seawall in the company of the suspected bandits.
“Did we put him there? No one has disputed that he was there,” Ramnarine said.
The Police have said that at about 10:30h on Thursday, on Robb Street, ranks of an anti-crime patrol unit, in an unmarked vehicle, acting on intelligence information, began following another motorcar that two “suspicious looking characters” were reportedly travelling in. As the ranks continued to observe, the suspected criminals led them [Police] to the Kingston Seawall, where an individual who had left a city bank had parked his motorcar.
At that time, the law enforcement officials who were on the stakeout noticed the two individuals — later identified as Assanah and Cordis — exiting their motorcar and approaching the customer’s vehicle, so they intervened.
One of the men was reportedly armed with a gun, and he began to open fire on the Police, resulting in a shootout in which both men died. Two other men came up riding on a CG motorcycle, and they also opened fire on the Police, resulting in the death of Errol Adams, while the other man escaped.
A 9mm pistol along with a magazine containing seven live rounds and four spent shells were found next to the body of Cordis. The motorcar, which was driven by Assanah, was searched, and one driver’s licence, ten passports belonging to himself and family members, a key used by trunkers, two handcuff keys, a bandana and clothing were discovered.
