Use of deadly force in seawall shootout justified – Ramnarine

Mar 20, 2018 News

In an effort to clear up questions raised about the shooting of three suspected bandits on the seawalls last Thursday, the acting Police Commissioner, David Ramnarine, said the use of force by the Guyana Police Force was justified.

According to Ramnarine, the Guyana Police Force, based on intelligence gathering and public trust, has been able to put a dent on a gang that was targeting bank customers.

Ramnarine said, “Had Police officers not done that, the gang would have created havoc.”

He said that preparatory works were done based on information from sources and surveillance was intensified.

“We had preparatory work done by intensified surveillance and we were getting a lot of information and support from people who were affected, and by sources out there—a number of whom would have to remain unknown—which indicated to us in a very definitive way that this criminal act would have occurred with the potential for deadly force to be used by the suspects,” Ramnarine said.

“No police officer sets out to execute a citizen,” Ramnarine said, when responding to comments from citizens who would have suggested police officers set out to execute the men.

“Damned if you do; damned if you don’t,” he said.

He said the officers acted in keeping with the law. “They were fired upon and as law enforcement officers, who are authorised to use deadly force as long as the deadly force is justified, as long as the deadly force is legitimate, to defend themselves, he said.

The acting Commander said, based on the information he has, if the Guyana Police Force had not taken the course of action it did, a lot of collateral damage would have happened on Robb Street.

He said it is good that the incident ended up at the seawall in a more desolate location.

The acting Commander said that sting operations are increasingly needed to crack down on cases of persons being robbed and therefore the Guyana Police Force will continue with the operations.

Last Thursday, Dextroy Cordis, Kwame Assanah and Errol Adams were shot dead during a confrontation with police officers at the Georgetown seawall.