Man dies after gunmen blast police checkpoint

Cop in narrow escape as 20 shots fired

By Iana Seales and Gaulbert Sutherland

Riddled with bullets, Arjune Narine Singh called “Ryan”, age 21, of Duncan Street, Campbellville, was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital minutes after the attack that was executed just as a lone policeman in plain clothes had pulled over three vehicles checking for documents in a lit section of the street. Singh died while receiving treatment.

At press time this morning there were reports of gunfire in various parts of the city but there were no reports of casualties or who may have been behind it.

Larry Gursahai of Station Street, Kitty and Mark and Jenny Semple of Campbellville were the remaining patients lifted from the scene nursing injuries. Along with Singh they were pulled over by the police on Middleton Street.

Though he was in plain clothes the police rank was in a marked vehicle that was parked a short distance from where the checkpoint was set up at the corner of Middleton and Drury Lane. Within minutes of him pulling over the three vehicles a car heading south along Middleton, believed to have been transporting a gang of around four men, drove up and unleashed a barrage of gunfire. It was around 9:30 pm and it appeared that the policeman was the target of the shooters.

The individuals pulled over were still in their vehicles waiting on the rank to approach them when the gunfire erupted. Singh was closest to the car with the gunmen and was reportedly hit first followed by Gursahai and then the Semples.

According to residents in the area, they heard rapid gunshots, which they said numbered around 21. They recounted that the rank had stopped a Toyota Starlet with the Semples close to the corner of Middleton Street and Drury Lane.

The resident said that Singh’s car pulled up heading in a southerly direction along Middleton Street and was also stopped. It was at this time, the resident said that the gunmen drove up in a car, headed in the same direction and exited and fired a number of shots towards the vehicles. The witness said that the policeman dived into the Middleton Street drain while the police car sustained several hits.

At the scene last night, a large number of heavily armed police converged. A number of residents had thronged the spot where the Toyota Starlet and Singh’s car were parked. The back screen of Arjune’s car was shattered and blood was visible on the seat.

Shortly after, the police ordered all persons off the immediate area where the cars were parked. Ranks scoured a portion of Drury Lane close to Middleton Street for spent shells. A rank in plainclothes was seen using a light to look in the weeds and in the Middleton Street drain and residents said that his gun had been lost. When this newspaper left the area last night, the police were still there conducting their investigations.

Accelerator

A composed Gursahai said at the hospital last night that he stepped on his accelerator and sped off after the first burst of gunfire fearful that things would have turned out badly.

He said his focus was on the officer at the time and he did not even hear when another car pulled up.

“I just heard gunshots and that was it I started driving and only stopped after I realise that I was injured. There was no time to think about what to do it was just time to act”, the man recounted.

Gursahai was on his way home to Kitty when the incident occurred and according to him, it was so sudden that it left him confused after a while. He said that from all appearances the men were targeting the police and the persons pulled in for the roadblock were simply in the wrong place.

Salim Alli who was in the car with Gursahai escaped unharmed and was in a state of shock last night. Alli kept asking how Gursahai was and whether everything was okay. He recalled seeing Singh slumped in his car shortly after and according to him, things looked pretty awful then.

The Semples were in their vehicle when the shots were being fired and stayed low. The incident traumatized them and at the hospital they were hardly speaking. They said the focus was on getting treated and going home.

As news of the shooting spread many persons thronged the hospital enquiring about incident and of the injured.

Singh’s relatives who were told that he may have been in a shooting rushed to the hospital in a panic.

“Someone called us to say that Ryan’s car was on the road and they even took pictures to show us with their phone so we had no choice but to rush down here, we don’t know anything yet”, a young woman related while struggling to remain calm.

Loud wailing erupted when the hospital broke the news of Singh’s death and as more relatives turned up emotions started running high.

They said he had just left a home on Hadfield Street where a friend died and was on his way home to Duncan Street. Many broke down while saying how friendly he was and that he was still so young. A few among them spoke of how his parents who are overseas would take the news.