Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:51 AM
Nov 05, 2019 News
Neighbours were awakened to the piercing sound of gunshots just after midnight yesterday, when Gordial Balram called “Old Dog”, a 49-year-old Cambio Dealer, Rice Farmer and bus driver was the target of a brazen attack by bandits – two masked men had sledgehammered their way into his home at Lot 48 Number 69 Village, Corentyne, Berbice.
When Kaieteur News arrived at the scene yesterday morning, one of the glass windows that enclosed the back porch was shattered, and just near the door to enter the house there was a gigantic hole in the wall left by the men who smashed through the concrete with sledgehammers.
Still a bit shaken after the ordeal, the businessman managed to recount what took place while he was at home with his wife, daughter and two other children.
Balram told reporters that it was after midnight, while they were asleep in their respective rooms in the upper flat, that he heard a shattering sound (glass breaking) and shortly after there was a bashing on the wall.
“I heard hard sounds, glass breaking up…and knocking on the concrete wall, and when I come out of my room I was still hearing hard sounds. It had a hole on my wall from the back verandah, and they (bandits) come in and start fire shots,” Balram recalled.
He said that at that point he retreated to his bedroom, grabbed his licensed .32 pistol and returned to the hall, firing shots in the intruders’ direction. As bullets rained in the home between the perpetrators and the businessman, the man said they began shouting “put on the effin’ light and dem start cuss up”.
Balram disclosed that with the brief exchange of gunfire, it is believed that one of the men may have been shot, since there was bloodstains on the verandah wall that was busted through. There were also drops of blood on the terrace floor leading to the step. The men apparently abandoned their attempt to rob the businessman after they were shot at multiple times.
According to Balram, he sustained no injuries during the shootout, but his home was riddled with bullet holes on the wall inside.
The businessman stated that when the men ran out of his yard, he noticed that they were joined by at least four others as they made good their escape via a muddy dam located opposite his home. The bandits, he said, were armed with “big and small guns and sledgehammer”.
Balram said that the men made off with no loot, but the incident has left him and family fearful for their lives, since it brought back memories of a similar occurrence at his home in 2014, when armed men invaded his premises and opened gunfire, shooting his then 16-year-old son in his spine. The teen was left paralyzed from the waist down, and the attack was investigated as an attempted robbery – since nothing was stolen – but his d
aughter who was 18 at the time had related that when the men entered the home they had asked for her father.
Meanwhile, neighbours complained about the response by the police from the Springlands Station. They said that when gunshots were heard they immediately made attempts to contact the police at the said station, but “it (the phone) was not working”.
Balram said when the men left, he too tried to contact the police and was unsuccessful. It was when a neighbour drove to the Springlands Station to report what had occurred that they were told that only one police rank was on duty. The police patrol vehicle eventually arrived nearly 30 minutes later after the rank at the inquiry desk had reportedly contacted the patrol.
Balram opined that if the police had responded promptly “they would have caught these men”. An officer at the station informed reporters that the phone line has been out of operation for over a week now.
In addition, Balram told reporters that he believes that he is qualified to have a shotgun to protect his family. He added that while he was approved for a .32 pistol over eight years ago, the process of applying for a shotgun has been disappointing. He stated that he applied twice within the last eight years but was not approved.
No-one has since been arrested, but all medical institutions were put on high alert in the event that the injured gunman tries to have his wound treated by medical professionals in the Region.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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