“I just push a little
piece through the window and I seh, If y’all only move ah gon
shoot and dem run for cover”
Members
of a family on the West Bank of Demerara are thankful that they
are still alive despite the efforts of at least seven
heavily armed gunmen to invade their home.
They managed to thwart the gunmen by barricading themselves in
their home.
Reports are that, at around 19:20 hours on Friday, at least
seven heavily armed men
pounced on a family at Viva-La-Force. 
According to Oudheia Sookdeo, because of a previous encounter
with gunmen, it has become a norm for members of his family to
secure themselves indoors early.
“We were watching television and we heard
the grill on the front door start
rocking,
so right away everybody just stay quiet because we realize that
people were trying to get into the house,” Sookdeo said.
He added that, after the noise continued, he peered through a
window only to see three men climbing on to the roof. According
to him, all the men carried guns and some wore face masks.
“By that time there were at least four others surrounding the
house and trying to get in, but everywhere was already locked
up. After I saw the three on the roof, I went for
a piece of steel rod which I keep in the house,
and I just push a little piece through the window and I she, 'If
y’all only move ah gon shoot,' ” Sookdeo recalled.
A
piece of steel rod
Sookdeo said that the men on the roof started running for cover.
The man
recalled that, after that episode, he heard heavy running in the
yard, followed by rapid gunshots. Residents in the area said
they heard about eight to 10 gunshots. However, no one was
injured, even as a bullet was found in a cupboard in the family
house.
The man told this newspaper that one security camera on his
premises was also destroyed by one of the gunmen. The family is
of the view
that the men who carried out the attack are known to them,
because of the mode of operation. Sookdeo’s son, Joseph
Persaud, said that footage picked up by the security camera
clearly suggests that.
“At one point during the attack, the footage on the camera
showed one of the gunmen walking backward to the camera and just
reaching his hand up and turning it in the other direction,”
Persaud said.
He added that from the other images on the camera they were able
to identify some of the men. The family is, however,
thankful for the quick response given by members of the Guyana
Police Force.
“Ten minutes after the men left
the Police arrive…if I didn’t bluff they probably woulda
stick around and de Police woulda catch them,” Sookdeo opined.
He said he strongly believes that the men used the
Demerara River as their port of entry and
exit to the area.
This is the second time in six months that the Sookdeo family
has been a victim of such an attack. On the previous occasion, in
November last year, heavily armed men attacked the
family, relieving them of close to $5M in
cash and jewellery.
A
senior Police source close to the investigations has revealed
that two suspects have since been arrested for the attempted
robbery.
