Seven die in shoot-outs
Two Mash Day escapees among dead
Large arms cache found in rented house
By Kim Lucas and Oscar P. Clarke

 

Two Mash Day escapees were among seven men killed in a series of bloody shoot-outs early yesterday morning in the city and on the East Coast of Demerara.
Among the dead are Dale Moore - seen as one of the leaders of the February 23 jail-break quintet - another escapee, Mark Fraser, Lancelot Roach and businessman Frank Solomon. The other men have not been identified. The police said that Moore and another man died in a confrontation with them in Lamaha Gardens while Roach and Fraser were killed by unknown gunmen on the East Coast. The escapees are believed to have been key players in the crime wave that has swept the country since late February. A third escapee Andrew Douglas was found dead in a car following a shoot-out earlier this year.

 

Moore and another man were shot dead by police only a few doors away from the Lamaha Gardens residence of Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj. They had reportedly been holed up with a substantial cache of arms in a nearby house. Another suspected bandit was found dead in Le Repentir Cemetery; two more in a car on the Annandale Public Road, East Coast Demerara; another killed by police at a house at Section `M' Campbellville; and the seventh person, a businessman, died at the Georgetown Public Hospital later in the morning believed to be a victim of a failed carjacking.

 

Shoot-out in Lamaha Gardens
The drama began to unfold at about 4 am yesterday when heavy gunfire erupted in the quiet suburb of Lamaha Gardens, just three doors away from the Minister's home. By the break of dawn, two men - one of whom the police later identified as Moore - lay dead on the street. A burgundy Toyota Carina, bearing licence plate PHH 2636 had crashed into a lamp post close by the bodies.
It is believed that one of the gunmen might have been injured and escaped through Plum Park, Sophia - the ward at the back of Lamaha Gardens.
One woman took reporters to her yard, where she displayed a bloodstained shirt, believed to have been dropped by the wounded gunman in his escape bid. The woman said whoever ran through her yard after the shooting stopped to snatch some of her clothes from a line and left the bloodstained shirt behind.
"We had clothes on de line and they put it on and they left this," she said, while pointing to the shirt on the ground in her yard. Her broken picket fence was another mark of the hurried escape bid.
"We hear de shots firing, one after the other...about (4 a.m.). We couldn't come out. People here on they belly lie down, couldn't come out."

 

Another resident, whose home was caught in the crossfire, barely escaped with his life. He was woken up by the gunshots and dived for cover under his bed. After a while, there was a lull. The police arrived and the man said he felt safe to venture outside.
Just as he stepped out and was speaking to the police on his bridge, more gunfire erupted, sending him face down on the road. The police had reportedly spotted movements in the drain and opened fire.
"When I come out, everything was finished...But it start again (at around 5:30 am). They [the police] tell me lie down [and] I fall down on the road...It [the crossfire] smashed up the windows, the doors and mirror in my house," the elderly man stated.
The police subsequently conducted a search of a building two houses from the scene of the shooting and uncovered a substantial arsenal of arms, ammunition and radios.

 

 

Body in the cemetery
Then sometime after 6 am, as investigators were combing the Lamaha Gardens scene, word spread that there was another body in Le Repentir Cemetery. In the burial ground, the police found the body of a young man of mixed race, light in complexion and clad in a pair of blue jeans and a green bulletproof vest under a blue, red and white striped jersey. He has not been identified.
Upon hearing the news, Crime Chief Leon Trim told reporters: "A body was just found in the cemetery with a bulletproof vest and a gunshot wound. It is likely that he escaped from this...There has to be concerns that [the shoot-out] occurred next to the minister's house...I did not see the minister [but] the minister is safe."

Gun battle on the East Coast
At around 7 am, before crime scene investigators could have arrived in the cemetery, the police received word of the Annandale shootings.
When Stabroek News rushed to the East Coast Demerara crime scene, two men - Fraser and Roach - were dead in Roach's green Toyota Sprinter, PHH 7248. Roach was the son of a senior police officer, said to be in charge of the communications unit of the force.
The dead men had gaping holes in their heads and parts of their brains were splattered on the dashboard of the bullet-riddled car.
Fraser, sitting in the front passenger seat, died with his head thrown back and mouth wide open. Roach, who was in the driver's seat, was slumped on Fraser's shoulder. His scalp appeared to have been blown away.
There were 16 bullet holes to the front windshield of Roach's car, eight on the driver's side window quite a number more had shattered the other windows and pierced parts of the car.
Investigators told Stabroek News that the occupants of two cars - PHH 7248 and PHH 5642 - had opened fire on each other while travelling in opposite directions. Roach's car was travelling eastward, and the other car was travelling towards the city.

 

Ex-cop Solomon shot in head
After Fraser and Roach were killed, a police source said, the occupants of the other car turned around and headed past the two dead men, to the Annandale Market Road, some 200 metres away. Shortly afterwards, Frank Solomon was shot.
Solomon's Toyota Mark II, bearing the name `Serpico' on the front windscreen, was found nose first in a trench on the northern side of the public road.
Eyewitnesses said Solo-mon and a teenager were shot as the gunmen from PHH 5642 tried to swap vehicles. Reportedly wounded and under police guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation last night was Candace Lowe, 16, of Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge. (See other story on page 16.)
"When they done do all this here, they turn back [towards the city]. De soldier past and slow down, look at the car and cut through by that sideline dam and then de [gunmen's] car pull off. De one dat do de shooting spin back here."
The car used by the gunmen was later found abandoned at the head of Agriculture Road, Mon Repos. A "banana" magazine and a single .762 bullet were found inside.
As investigators combed the scene, a taxi driver related: "We hear the noise, the banging of the car and the car (PHH 5642) come down there. As soon as it stop, three men jump out with guns. So we get scared. They see the [fright] on we face, so they say, `All yo doan worry, we is police.' Some bullets did fall and one of them pick it up. A fellow driver was over there, and they went to him to take his car to go. They say they chasing de bandits, Shawn Brown, [but] he say, `Man, I can't go, because I got to work.' They come over to me and they open de door. A short straight hair man... and this tall one, he look like Shawn Brown to me and he say, `Man, lef de man. Leh we ain't go with he.'" Who these men were remains a mystery.

 

 

 

Encounter with the army
The taxi driver said at that time, an army patrol pulled up and the gunmen from PHH 5642 placed their guns on the bonnet of their car and spoke to the soldiers.
"These men tek they gun and put on the car and they come they talk to the soldier and the soldier them drive way. Be time dat, another car, a Pandit that I know, drive in and ask what happen? So them chaps say, `We are police and we chasing Shawn Brown. We want a car' and de pandit say okay. Them (the gunmen) was taking him out the car, but he say, `No, I will drive the car' and they go in the car." Stabroek News understands that the gunmen headed south along Agriculture Road in the Pandit's car.

 

When contacted yesterday, a senior army personnel told this newspaper that there was no indication that the Guyana Defence Force patrol encountered any white car in the Agriculture Road area, since the area was out of boundary for patrol activity.
"However, it was reported this (Monday) morning that a patrol encountered two white cars in the vicinity of the Annandale Market Road. The occupants of both cars stopped the GDF patrol, claimed to be policemen and requested assistance based on an incident that had taken place [the shooting of Fraser and Roach].
The GDF patrol commander requested permission from Camp Buxton before responding, and [when the army patrol reached] the scene, he (the commander) reported seeing the same occupants of the two white cars and one of the cars was damaged," the officer stated.
Another army source said that the gunmen had identified themselves as policemen to the soldiers.
The taxi driver who transported the gunmen is safe.
Later in the morning a suspect was killed by police in Section M Campbellville when, in a continuing sweep of the area, they entered a house and were met by a person who threw a grenade at them, they retaliated and the person was killed. This man remains unidentified
Police also discovered a 9 mm pistol and a hand grenade at Oleander Gardens suspected to have been dropped or deposited by one of two men who were seen hurrying out of the city heading for the East Coast.
Police also stormed a house in Bonasika Street, Campbellville discovering 12 channa bombs, a car, a receipt for another car and four live rounds of ammunition.
The police are said to be checking the ownership of the various homes raided and the cars found.
Yesterday's shooting incidents followed the flight to freedom of kidnapped Keishar's owner Brahmanand Nandalall. It is unclear whether there is any link between his escape and the subsequent events.
With the deaths of the two escapees, citizens were yesterday wondering what impact it would have on the crime epidemic that has taken hold of the country. In the last eight months, dozens of people including ten policemen have been murdered and many others injured. There have also been numerous armed robberies.

Ex-cop gunned down in Annandale
Attempted carjacking failed
By Edlyn Benfield
Ex-policeman and Managing Director of Marjorie's Enterprise, Franklyn Solomon died yesterday from gunshot wounds sustained during what some say was an attempted car-jacking at Annandale.
According to reports, several men in a car who had earlier shot and killed two other men in another car, attempted to take Solomon's vehicle. In the ensuing tussle, Solomon was fatally shot and his car ended up in the trench. The gunmen then abandoned attempts to take his car

Solomon called `Serpico', 46, died at around 10 am while undergoing emergency surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital for multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the right temple.
The dead man's sister, Diane Solomon, told Stabroek News her brother was on his way to their mother's home at 43 North Melanie Damishana, ECD, when tragedy struck at about 7:15 am. The victim's family received the sad news some fifteen minutes later.
This newspaper understands Solomon was shot when he stopped his white, Toyota Mark II car PHH 2850 and sent a female friend, travelling with him, to purchase something. According to the source, the woman was returning to the vehicle and saw Solomon covered in blood lying on the ground. The woman, an Annandale resident, started screaming and some of the persons gathered at the scene took her home.
Yesterday his sister Diane remembered her brother as "a loving and helpful manager to his employees and a devoted family member." She said he celebrated his birthday last Wednesday and it was only on Sunday that their mother, who immediately fell ill after learning of her son's death, had sent cake for him. Solomon had a cleaning contract with the Georgetown Public Hospital and was remembered as a pleasant easygoing boss by his employees.
His wife, Lynette, who lives in the United States with the couple's five children, has been notified and was expected to arrive in Guyana last night.
Shortly after midday, Stabroek News observed the dead businessman's Lot 1 Felicity, Happy Acres residence surrounded by several heavily armed law enforcement ranks wearing bulletproof vests. The premises appeared to be empty. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Department was unaware of this development and therefore unable to disclose any relevant information.
Besides his parents, Eileen Solomon-Noble and James Scipio, and other previously mentioned relatives, Solomon has left to mourn ten other siblings. On April 18, 1998, Solomon's brother, Malcolm McDonald-Noble, an ex-soldier, was murdered in Boa Vista, Brazil. (Back to top)

Arms cache found by police
The following is a list of arms and ammunition found at crime scenes by the police yesterday.

FIREARMS (13)
1 - 9MM Highpoint Rifle, Model 995
1 - 12 gauge Maverick shot/gun Model 88
1 - 9MM UZI Model 61
2 - 7.62X51MM FN Rifle
1 - 223 Ruger Rifle Model AC 556
1 - 7.62X39 Model M.70 Assault Rifle
2 - 270 Winchester Raptor Rifle with telescopic sight
2 - 9MM.MAC 11 Semiautomatic pistol
1 - 9MM.Glock Pistol Model 17
1 - 9MM. Tanfoglio pistol Model TA 90

 

MAGAZINES (45)
33 - M 70 Magazines
8 - FN Magazines
1 - 223 Ruger Magazine
1 - Glock Magazine
2 - 9MM. MAC 11 Magazines

FRAGMENTATION GRENADES (3)

FLARES (1)

AMMUNITION

QUANTITY CALIBRE
Rounds
2778 - 7.62x39
68 - 7.62x51
103 - .30
19 - 270
29 - 45
3 - .38 SPECIAL
1 - 380
44 - 9mm.
51 - 12 gauge
4 - 223

ONE SUITCASE CONTAINING CHANNA BOMBS
ONE SALT BAG WITH CHANNA (Back to top)

 

What happened where, when and how
A timeline of yesterday's events
3:00 am: Kidnapped businessman Bramhanand Nandalall reportedly escapes from house in Lamaha Gardens.

3:30 am: Members of a police unit report on radio that they are under gunfire from a car in the Bel Air/Lamaha Gardens area and call for tactical support.
Ranks return fire and eventually discover a body later identified as Dale Moore. Further operations conducted and the body of another person unidentified by the police found in the general area.
Subsequently a search is conducted in the building that the men were reportedly occupying and from which they attempted to exit. A substantial arsenal of arms and ammunition discovered.

6:00 am: Police receive reports of person found dead in Le Repentir cemetery wearing a bulletproof vest. Unidentified up to press time.

7:00 am: A shoot-out on Annandale Public Road leaves three dead. Police report that two cars approaching each other one green and one white, engage in gunfire. Two men in green car killed are prison escapee Mark Fraser and Lancelot Roach owner of a communication equipment business in a city market- Lance Wireless Connection. Police find on Roach a .22 pistol and on Fraser a M.35 pistol.
Former policeman Frank Solomon apparently shot in failed attempt by gunmen to hijack his car. Woman passenger injured.

8:15am: Police discover a 9 mm pistol and a hand grenade at Oleander Gardens suspected to have been dropped or deposited by one of two men who were seen hurrying out of the city heading for the East Coast.
Police also storm a house in Bonasika Street, Campbellville. Twelve channa bombs found, a motor car, receipt for another motorcar, four live rounds of ammunition.

10:30am: Police in continuing sweep enter a targeted house in Section M Campbellville and are met by a person who throws a grenade at them. They retaliate and the person is killed.

Also on Saturday October 25 at 6 am police, based on intelligence reports arrested a suspicious looking man at the New Amsterdam ferry stelling. A search turned up one SN rifle later discovered to belong to slain Constable Pardat who was shot at Rose Hall in August. Also found was a Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol, 38 rounds of 7.62 ammunition and nine rounds of 9mm ammunition.
The suspect is a 22-year-old man from Buxton. Police say he is currently under investigation in relation to his possible involvement in other activities including the murder of two policemen in Berbice.

Keishar's owner escapes from captors
Kidnapped businessman Brahmanand Nandalall is free after reportedly escaping from his captors in the wee hours of yesterday morning.
Police Commissioner (ag), Floyd McDonald at a media briefing yesterday said that Nandalall called 'Bramma' "is alive and out of captivity," although he offered no further details.
Information reaching Stabroek News yesterday said Nandalall escaped from a Lamaha Gardens house sometime after 3 am yesterday, subsequently alerting his associates. It is further believed that he also made contact with the police.
McDonald yesterday said the police "may have had brief discussions" with Nandalall since his escape but he preferred to avoid discussions on the issue presently.
Questioned on the likelihood of a ransom being paid to secure Nandalall's release, McDonald said he had received no such report and that the matter was still being investigated.
Nandalall, was cornered near the entrance to Citizens Bank last Thursday by a group of heavily armed men who had earlier pursued him from outside Keishar's Gift Shop and Variety Store. (Back to top)

 

Police raid D'Urban St apartments
Take away two women
By Samantha Alleyne
Three families in a D'Urban St apartment building are lamenting the actions of police ranks who they claim kicked down their doors and arrested two young women for no apparent reason.
Stabroek News was told yesterday that the heavily armed ranks rushed into the three apartments at Lot 17 D'Urban Street stating that they were looking for a bandit. Attempts to reach the police public relations department on the raid were unsuccessful.
The occupants of two of the apartments were not at home at the time and the officers reportedly kicked down their doors and ransacked their homes. The building is divided into three, two apartments at the bottom and one at the top.
In the top apartment the policemen kicked down both the front and back doors and tumbled clothes and other items in a wardrobe and chest of drawers in a bedroom.
While in one of the bottom apartments, the policemen kicked the door open even though they were told that the occupants were not at home. They did not enter.
In the second apartment the ranks kicked open the door behind which were two screaming women along with a number of children who were also screaming because of the officers' presence. A very ill woman was also said to be in the home.
It was from this apartment the officers arrested the two women and took them down to Brickdam Police Station where up to late yesterday afternoon they were still being held. The women, both of whom are said to be in their early twenties, were said to be undergoing extensive questioning. One of the women does not live in the apartment but is a neighbour. She was forced to leave her screaming niece with strangers after being taken away by the police.
In the same apartment the policemen took a number of photographs of family members along with three telephones, a cellular, a cordless and an ordinary house phone.
The mother of one of the girls who were arrested said that she was told that the policemen were asking questions about a Lethem call that was recorded on the caller ID.
"Me man call me from Lethem and they asking questions about that," the woman said.
She said that the officers took photographs of her son and her reputed husband, and she questioned the purpose of their actions.
"We ent have no bandits in we house, why deh kicking down we doors? Me daughter never involve in anything illegal, why deh arrest her foh?" the woman asked.
The families, who preferred their names not to be mentioned, said they could not say why the law enforcement officers would want to target them since none of them are involved in any illegal activities.
A woman, who claimed to have witnessed it all, said she was in the same apartment from which the women were arrested when she saw three vanloads of police driving past the house.
She said a few seconds later she decided to leave but as she did she saw the policemen return and stop their vehicles in front of the home. They then entered the yard and started kicking down the doors even though they were told that no one was at home.
By this time the women and the children in the other apartment were screaming and the policemen with their guns at the ready called out to them to open the door. The policemen then kicked down the door, searched for a few seconds, took the photographs and telephones and ordered the young women into the vehicle.
The families concluded that the police actions could have been a spin-off from all the shooting activity during the early morning.
Seven persons were killed in several shooting incidents in the city and on the East Coast..

 

Body found in burnt car at Buxton
A Guyana Defence Force (GDF) patrol last night discovered the charred remains of a man after a car was set ablaze in Buxton. The body was burnt beyond recognition and was in the back seat of the car.
According to reports, three men had been in the car travelling through Buxton.
Stabroek News learnt that a Friendship man was the driver of the car and had been accompanied by two other men. It is said that the Friendship man met friends at the junction of the Railway Embankment and the Church of God Road. He exited the car and had been speaking with his friends when he is said to have been pounced upon by a group of men at around 7.30 pm. This group of irate men accused him of being an informer.
The Friendship man reportedly sought refuge in a yard at Friendship Middle Walk and was subsequently rescued by an army patrol.
He was subsequently taken to the Vigilance Police Station where he was told that the car had been set afire. The information was relayed to the patrol which on checking discovered the man's burnt remains in the car. It is unclear which of the two men with the Friendship man had been burnt.
Meanwhile, other reports reaching Stabroek News last night said that some residents were forced to flee their homes as the sound of gunfire rang out in the village of Buxton. Sources said many residents had taken refuge in their homes early last evening following an incident at around 6 pm when armed men travelling in a dark-coloured car were spotted in the village. It is believed that threats were issued against some residents in connection with the shootings earlier in the day in Georgetown and on the East Coast which left seven men dead.
Police are investigating the discovery of the burnt body.
Sn 10 29 2002

View from The Chronicle

Two escapees among seven killed
- sniper rifle, grenades, `walkie talkies' found in city house
By Wendella Davidson 10 29

TWO of the February 23 prison escapees were among seven persons killed in separate shooting incidents in the city and on the East Coast Demerara yesterday morning.
Police Commissioner Floyd McDonald, at a news conference at Police headquarters at noon, reported that six persons had died, including dangerous prison escapees Dale Moore and Mark Fraser.
A man who was shot in an incident on the East Coast and hospitalised, died yesterday afternoon, becoming the seventh fatality in the drama that began before dawn.
Mr. McDonald said Police had also uncovered an arsenal of heavy weapons, `channa bombs', grenades, `walkie talkies' and cell phones, among other items within 36 hours of operations which began on Saturday last.
The Commissioner who said Police are facing a "serious problem", said they were still in the middle of their operations, which included the use of tracker dogs to hunt bandit/bandits wounded yesterday.
McDonald reported too that businessman Brahmanand Nandalall, also called `Bramma', proprietor of Keishar's Store, Camp Street, Georgetown, who was abducted by gunmen on Thursday, was "alive and out of captivity".
Dale Moore was identified as one of two persons found dead in a shootout in Lamaha Gardens, Georgetown, while Mark Fraser was one of two persons found dead in a car after an armed confrontation between the occupants of two cars travelling in opposite directions on the East Coast Demerara.
The other dead are Lancelot Roache, found in the car with Fraser on the East Coast; an unidentified gunman found at the Lamaha Gardens scene; another fully clothed and wearing a green bulletproof vest found lying on his back in Le Repentir Cemetery, Georgetown, and an unidentified man shot dead in a house from where a grenade was thrown at the Police
A third person, identified as Franklyn Solomon, who was in a third car in the East Coast incident, was also reportedly shot and subsequently died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
It is yet to be determined whether Solomon was accidentally caught in the crossfire or was in any way involved in the shooting incident.
McDonald said the arsenal found at the various scenes included:
** 13 firearms: one 9mm Highpoint Rifle, Model 995; one 12 Gauge Maverick Shotgun, Model 88; one 9mm Uzi, Model 61; two 7.62 x 51 mm FN rifles; one 223 Ruger Rifle, Model AC 556; one 7.62 x 39 Model M 70 Assault Rifle; two 270 Winchester Raptor Rifles with telescopic sight; two 9mm MAC 11 semi-automatic pistols; one 9mm Glock Pistol, Model 17; one 9mm Tanfoglio Pistol, Model TA 90.
** 45 magazines consisting of 33 M 70 magazines; eight FN Magazines; one 223 Ruger magazine; one Glock Magazine; two 9mm MAC 11 magazines.
** Three fragmentation grenades.
** One flare.
** Ammunition - 2,778 rounds of .62 x 39; 68 rounds 7.62 x 51; 103 rounds of .30; 19 rounds 270; 29 rounds 45 calibre; three rounds of .38 Special; one round of 380; 44 rounds of 9mm; 51 rounds 12 gauge and four rounds of 223 along with a suitcase containing `channa' bombs and one salt bag with Channa (chick pea).
Included too and which were also displayed during the news conference were two bibles - a red and a black; a quantity of medical supplies; three books `The Illuminati 666 Book 2'; `The Antichrist 666 Book 1' and `The Philosophy & Opinion of Marcus Garvey'; one flop hat; cell phones; a card containing two bottles of `Potable Aqua' emergency drinking water; seven Motorola hand-held `walkie-talkie' communication sets (four medium and three small), and four pairs of number plates PHH 1643; PHH 6872; PHH 3783 and PHH 6393.

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
Commissioner McDonald gave the following chronology of events:
** 06:00 hrs Saturday October 26 - Police based on intelligence, arrested a suspicious-looking 22-year-old man of Buxton at the New Amsterdam Ferry Stelling. A search of his person unearthed an FM rifle which investigations revealed belonged to Constable Ramphal Pardat, called Clifton, who was one of three men killed last July in Rose Hall, Berbice, during a daring robbery.
The man also had a Smith and Wesson 9mm rifle, 38 rounds of 7.62 ammunition; nine rounds of 9mm ammo and a quantity of clothing.
Police are investigating for possible connection with robberies and murder including that of two Policemen. Pardat and Outar Kissoon were the two Policemen killed during the Rose Hall incident.
** 03:30 hrs, yesterday - members of a Police unit reported on radio that they were under gunfire from a car in the Bel Air/Lamaha Gardens, Georgetown area and requested tactical support. Ranks returned fire and subsequently discovered a body believed to be that of Dale Moore and later that of an unidentified male in the general area.
A search of a building which the gunmen allegedly occupied and from which they attempted to exit, unearthed an arsenal of arms and other items. A car with a false licence plate was also found at scene.
** 07:00 hrs, yesterday - at Annandale, East Coast Demerara, the occupants of two cars, a green and a white, approaching from opposite directions, engaged each other in gunfire. Two men said to be prison escapee Mark Fraser and Lancelot Roache of Lance Wireless Connections, Stabroek Market, the occupants of the green car, were killed. A .22 weapon was found on the body of Roache and an M .35 pistol on that of Fraser.
** 08:15 hrs, yesterday - Oleander Gardens, East Coast Demerara - a 9mm pistol and a hand grenade were found. Suspected to be either dropped from or discarded by one of two men who were seen hurrying from the city for the East Coast.
** Continuing their operations, Police stormed a house at Bonasika Street, Campbellville, Georgetown, were they found 12 channa bombs, a motorcar, a receipt for another car and four live rounds of ammunition.
** Police received a report that an unidentified, fully clothed male and wearing a green bulletproof vest was found in Le Repentir Cemetery. Police were still seeking to find out who the dead man is, how he received his wounds and whether he was part of any of the incidents and had escaped.
** In Lamaha Gardens, Police went to one of the targeted houses and were confronted by a grenade thrown by someone from the house. The Police retaliated with firepower and subsequently a man was found dead in the area. Police are seeking to establish his identity.
When the Chronicle arrived at the Lamaha Street scene of the shooting just before 06:00 hrs, just houses away from Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Ronald Gajraj's residence, Police had already cordoned off the area and a sizeable curious crowd stood on an opposite street looking on in awe.
A burgundy car with its bonnet smashed in was against an electricity pole from which wires dangled, and a Policeman was observed pulling the body of a gunman clad in black shorts and black vest from under the bridge of the yard of the home of a former public servant. Some spent shells were found at the scene.

BODY ON PARAPET
The body of an accomplice lay on the parapet of the next door residence and blood was also splattered on the white concrete fence and behind it.
Just around the corner in a small ditch in the vicinity of a Guyana Water Inc. pump station was a green motor car PHH 4904, apparently discarded by the bandits.
The former public servant's house was riddled with bullet holes, the yard splattered with mud and on the parapet was a huge pool of blood.
Some three houses from nearby Duncan Street, a house said to be owned by a city realtor, was the safe house of the gunmen and the large cache of arms was found there, Police said.
McDonald confirmed that someone from the house was in Police custody assisting with the investigation.
There was no indication of how long the gunmen had been living at the house.
While at the scene, a female resident of Sophia reported that a bloodied shirt had been abandoned by a gunman in her nephew's yard.
According to the woman, the wounded bandit took a grey jersey belonging to her nephew off the fence and left his bloodied shirt behind.
McDonald said the Police were using tracker dogs to hunt the wounded gunman.
It was not long after media operatives had returned to Lamaha Gardens from Sophia that news of the discovery of the dead man in the cemetery was received.
The brown-skinned dead man who lay on his back was dressed in blue denim jeans, grey and red track shoes, black and red striped jersey and with a green bulletproof vest
McDonald, at his news conference, said that based on yesterday's findings the Police are facing "a serious problem". He said that the possession of `channa bombs' (bottle bombs) by the bandits is an indication of the level of operations which the Police have faced over the past seven months.
Referring to the sniper weapon found among the cache discovered in the Lamaha Gardens `safe house', McDonald pointed out that this was not the work of ordinary criminals.
He added that the Police were continuing their efforts in a bid to have all the persons in what may be a "seemingly large gang" brought to justice.
It was at this point that McDonald, in response to queries, said Nandalall was "alive and out of captivity" and that he may have had discussions with the Police.
He said he had no information whether he had been in custody of any of the men who were killed.
Fraser, other man killed in hail of bullets

RESIDENTS of Annandale said that at around 07:00 hrs there was heavy gunfire from two cars which were driving along the Annandale public road.
The shooting lasted for about a minute and occupants of both vehicles were apparently exchanging gunfire, they said.
According to reports, persons from a white car fired several shots at a dark green Toyota motorcar, licence plate PHH 7248, which was heading in the direction of Buxton.
During the shooting the dark green car made an abrupt stop after the driver was fatally hit by bullets.
Another man who was in the front seat of the vehicle was also shot dead.
Police said the driver of that car was identified as Lancelot Roache while the other man in the front seat was positively identified as Mark Fraser - one of the five dangerous prisoners who escaped February 23 from the Georgetown Prison.
Both men were shot in the head.
Witnesses said there were two other persons in the back seat of the car who escaped during the shooting - one of them a man who was reportedly wounded.
The other, a 17-year-old girl, was also wounded and was in Police custody assisting with investigations.
Reports said there were what appeared to be bloodstains on the ground in the direction where the wounded man went.
As the man was heading east of Annandale, he was held by public-spirited citizens, witnesses said.
However, a group of people from Buxton went to the scene, demanded his release and he was whisked away into that village, they said.
A reliable source said there was ample evidence that the man was severely wounded. He was apparently shot in his right forearm, his right leg and there was a wound in his head.
"I believe this man was drugged. I can't imagine with all those injuries he was still able to make it in to Buxton as though nothing went wrong", the source said.
The two other motor cars which were reportedly involved in the shooting were a white Toyota Sprinter PHH 5642 which was left abandoned at the entrance of Agriculture Road, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara and was under Police guard yesterday morning.
The other car, a light coloured Toyota Mark II apparently ran off the road and was stuck in a trench about 400 metres from the scene of the shooting.
There were no bullet holes in the two vehicles.
A resident in the area said several stray bullets shattered the glass door on the front of his house and penetrated sections of the front wall.
He said a bullet grazed his wife's right shoulder. She was taken to hospital, treated and sent away.
There was a heavy Police and Army presence at the scene of the shooing and a large crowd of curious onlookers.
Police, after taking the dead men out of the motorcar, recovered a handgun, a cell phone, a can of `Bass' spray and $2,000 which the man, identified as Mark Fraser, had on his person.