“Hit the floor, take cover!” ― Police witness recalls

Bartica Massacre trial

… hid under bed while gunmen executed attack

At Wednesday’s hearing of the Bartica massacre trial at the Demerara High Court, Police Corporal Osborne Paul, currently stationed at the Port Kaituma Police Station, Region One (Barima-Waini) recalled the harrowing account detailing how he hid under a bed in the barrack room as the terror gang executed the heinous February 17, 2008 attack at Bartica.

Corporal Paul, then a Constable at Bartica, testified that on that fateful night, he was watching a game of 20/20 cricket in the barrack room along with Lance Corporal Kush, Constables Fredericks, Benjamin and others, when around 21:40h he heard loud explosions, presumably gunshots that lasted for roughly a minute. Thereafter, the witness heard someone say: “Hit the floor, take cover!”
Paul told the 12-member jury that after he heard the order, he laid flat on his stomach and crawled over to the kitchen and hid under a bed that was in the dining area. While being under the bed, the Police witness recalled that two persons dressed in military attire were standing in front of the kitchen door. Paul told the court that the attackers were holding long guns that extended below their waists. He later explained that he was about 20 feet away from the men who carried the guns.
“I could not recognise their faces. I heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the same long guns; it lasted for about one minute,” Corporal Paul testified to the court.
He also told the court that sometime afterwards; he got up and ran over to the Inspector’s quarters on the second floor of the building. Paul explained that at this point, he met Inspector Sutton and the two went to Sutton’s room where he heard a Police Land Rover vehicle, the only one in Bartica at the time, drive off. Some 10 minutes later, the said vehicle returned and proceeded in the direction towards the stelling.
The Police witness pointed out that at this time, he was hiding under the bed with Inspector Sutton when he heard “another set of explosions”. This time the shooting spree lasted for approximately three minutes.
“I then got up and ran out of the building using the back stairway and headed to the back gate,” Paul testified.
He also told the court that at the back gate, he saw the motionless body of Lance Corporal Zakir with what appeared to be blood and in the kitchen area he saw Constable Fredericks lying face down with what appeared to be blood oozing from his body.
“I then saw Lance Corporal Zakir in a seated position behind a cupboard with what appeared to be blood oozing from the left side of his head,” Corporal Paul told the court.
The Police witness further testified that he ran out of the building, accompanied by other ranks attached to the Bartica Police Station. Under cross-examination by Defence Counsel Roger Yearwood, the Police Corporal testified that there were no lights in the kitchen area but that light shone from the barrack room.
Under cross-examination by attorney Sahphier Hussain, Paul testified that he was looking at cricket for 20 minutes before he had heard the explosions. The 12-member jury also heard that the Police witness was not carrying a firearm at time of the attack on the Police Station.
The witness was also cross-examined by Defence Counsel Peter Hugh. State Prosecutors for the case are Diana Kaulesar and Stacey Goodings, and the matter continues before Justice Roxanne George, SC this morning.
Mark Williams, Dennis “Anaconda” Williams and Roger Simon are the three accused standing trial for the February 17, 2008 attack where 12 persons lost their lives. Two others, Celbert Reece and Michael Caesar both pled guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to 420 and 1080 years imprisonment respectively.