The house in Herstelling where the robbery occurred
A 42-year-old man is now dead after he was shot by armed bandits who stormed a family gathering at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD), during which an overseas-based family was also robbed.
Dead: Ameer Khan
Dead is Ameer Subrati of Peter’s Hall, EBD. The man was shot to the back of his neck sometime around 02:00h on Thursday when five men, two of whom were armed with handguns, pounced on the family and escaped with an undisclosed sum of cash, three cellular phones and other items.
The injured man was picked up and rushed to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre and was subsequently transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) where he underwent surgery. Although doctors listed him as being in stable but critical condition, the man died sometime after midday on Thursday.
According to reports, Subrati’s brother and his family came into the country on Tuesday and as such, he along with others would usually keep their company at the Lot 320 Third Street, Herstelling residence.
Speaking with Guyana Times shortly after Subrati’s death, the visiting sister-in-law, Amika Appiah, related that sometime around 02:00h, she decided to take a shower in the outdoor bathroom, leaving her husband upstairs and some other relatives in front of the yard.
“I came down to go to shower and one of the bandits step out from the bathroom, pointing a gun at me and whispered something but I didn’t hear what. When I realised what was happening, I screamed and then the four rushed out from the (adjoining) toilet,” she recalled.
The woman said that upon hearing her scream, her husband rushed down the back steps and the (four) others at the back were shouting “shoot him, shoot him” to the one that was holding her at gunpoint. She added that she then fell down and the other relatives rushed to the back.
“(Relatives) rushed into the bandits, who start firing bullets; I guess that’s when Ameer got shot,” the woman stated, while continuing that during this time, she along with the other relatives managed to run into hiding, while her husband ran back into the house and secured himself.
Appiah added that it seemed as though the robbery was “hatched” since the gunmen were specific about what they wanted.
“It seemed that it’s (my husband) and I they were targeting… They were asking for the white bag, which was my bag with everything inside (passports, travel documents, cash, jewellery, etc)… They went upstairs, took the bag and came back down, firing about four shots again before existing through the front gate.
But they gain entrance through the back because we were in front all the time and they were waiting for us. I guess they somehow knew we went down late to shower the first night but they didn’t expect the relatives would retaliate,” the woman pointed out.
Residents in the street told the victims that the men were seen running in the southern direction over a bridge into ‘Bell City’ – a squatting area locating in neighbouring Farm.
According to the traumatised victims, they believe that the robbery was set up by tenants – a couple occupying the lower flat of the house, since they would have known about the time they showered the night before and what colour her bag is. Moreover, Appiah noted that while all five of the perpetrators were masked, her husband managed to recognise one of them as the brother of one of the female tenants.
“I think that’s the one that had the gun on me because my husband said when he came down the backstep, that’s the person that was over me with the gun. And he did not do us anything because he knew us but the ones (four gunmen) at the back were telling him to shoot. He didn’t shoot, it was the one at the back with the gun who opened fire,” the woman stated.
The overseas-based victim went on to relate that on Wednesday, the downstairs apartment was locked from the outside but the tenant’s brother and a female were locked inside all day unknown to them.
“We had no idea the two of them were locked in that house all day. When the wife (tenant) came in, she opened the door and came out with a bag of clothes along with those two. They called a cab and left just like that so I guess they knew what was going to happen that night,” Appiah remarked.
She noted that after they returned from the hospital just over an hour after the robbery, the tenants were back at the house and upon seeing the Police, the male tenant scaled the fence and hid in the neighbour’s yard. Nevertheless, he was arrested and taken into custody, assisting with the investigations.
The victims’ family claims that the Police have been harassing them while preferential treatment is being given to the suspect and his family. They are fearful that the suspect would be released and another attacked would be carried out on the visiting family.
