Albouystown man gunned down in drive by shooting

An Albouystown resident with a lengthy criminal record was gunned down around 19:00 hrs yesterday in Sussex Street by the occupants of a white car. He became the second man to be executed in the community within the past four days.
An eyewitness said that Anand Lalchand, 31, also known as, Randy, of Howes Street, Albouystown, was shot in the chest while smoking a marijuana ‘joint’, by the occupants of a white car who used a city-wide power outage and rain as cover to carry out the hit. He died shortly after at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Close associates of the slain man said that Lalchand was targeted for execution by an individual who reportedly collected a $1M down-payment to carry out the hit. The associates said that Lalchand, who has three small children, had been warned that he was being targeted, and was even told the name of the gunman who had been paid to kill him.
A friend of the slain man said that he, Lalchand and others were in Sussex Street, during a slight drizzle, when there was a sudden blackout in the area. At the time, Lalchand was standing by a gate smoking a ‘joint’, when a white car turned from Lyng Street into Sussex Street.
The friend said that the occupants of the car discharged two gunshots, one of which struck Lalchand in the chest. According to the associate, they were unaware that Lalchand had been shot until they saw him lying on the ground.
The friends placed him in a vehicle and rushed him to the GPHC, where he succumbed while receiving medical attention in the Accident and Emergency Unit.
An associate of the murdered man said that Lalchand called him at around 18:45 hrs yesterday.
“He call me and tell me to meet him on Sussex Street, but I say that I going by my girl.” He subsequently received a call informing him that Lalchand had been killed.
According to the associate, Lalchand’s killers had been ‘circling’ the area earlier in the day looking for him.  They said that a gold-coloured car, which they recognized, passed in the area at around 17:55 hrs.
“Some friends see the car and tell him ( Lalchand) come off the road, but he say that he got to get something to eat.”
Aman Lalchand had had several brushes with the law. He was charged, but acquitted, for the 2008 execution-style murder of George Barton, called ‘Georgie Berlin.’
Barton was riddled with bullets by gunmen in a car while walking in Laing Avenue with his teenaged daughter. The daughter was shot in the knees and buttocks. The young woman never testified in court during either preliminary inquiry, citing fear for her safety.
In 2011, Lalchand was also charged with robbing designer Trevor Rose at gunpoint of $2.65M at a Middle Street Mashramani Camp.  At the time, the accused had several other cases of a similar nature pending.
His execution comes just four days after the still unsolved killing of Albouystown taxi driver Renie Williams, who was gunned down in King Edward Street.
Williams, a 25-year-old ex-policeman, was shot twice in the back by a lone, black-clothed man armed with a 9mm pistol as he sat in his car outside his home with his wife.
Williams and his family have been embroiled in a bitter dispute with another Albouystown family.
Police officials also confirmed that the ex-cop was dismissed from the Force and was also a suspect in several armed robberies.