William Forde, 34, of 34 East La Penitence, who along with an accomplice robbed the home of an ice and hollow block dealer yesterday morning, was shot dead by the police. The police also recovered a .32 pistol which the dead Forde was said to be carrying.

The incident occurred in ‘C' Field, Sophia at around 10:00 hours.

Eyewitnesses related that the two bandits had entered the home of George Hanover, called Ice Man, and using ‘Bass,' had sprayed a contractor before using the noxious gas on the homeowner's wife, Annie Ramlogan. They also kicked her in the stomach as they demanded cash and jewellery.

Nothing-on-Roger Khan

One resident said that two women who were visiting from Barbados were in the house with Hanover 's wife when the bandits struck. According to sources, the men robbed the women of cash and jewellery, before attempting to escape.

Some residents said both bandits, who were armed with guns, fired several shots in the air while running from the home. This time, however, there was no easy escape.

One eyewitness, who lives nearby, said he looked through his window after hearing the gunshots and saw two men running from the home of his neighbour. The man said he immediately raised an alarm and gave chase with other residents. He said as they chased the robbers, more public spirited residents joined in following the bandits. The chase, which began in ‘C' Field, Sophia, crossed over into ‘B' Field and ended in ‘A' Field, where they cornered Forde.

Meanwhile, Hanover, who said that he had left his residence no more than five minutes before the robbery occurred, raced back home. He said en route he met the contractor, who told him that the gunmen were in his home.

He said that he confronted the men, who discharged a round in his direction and started running. Hanover said that he trailed them to the Lamaha Canal , where they split up. But by this time a group of residents had joined in the chase.

At ‘A' Field, the bandits disappeared into some thick bushes along the dam separating the canal from the homes of residents. While some searched the toilets and yards of residents, others thrashed the bushes along the dam in search of the men.

However, according to many, it was revealed a while later by an observant resident that Forde had plunged into a trench near the conservancy (the Blacka) while his accomplice somehow escaped the angry mob.

Barricading the conservancy, residents discovered Forde in the trench amid some very tall grass. Realising he was cornered, Forde whipped out a handgun from his waist, shot at his pursuers and crossed over to the dam south of the conservancy, desperately attempting to escape.

More residents gathered and cordoned off the area, preventing the man from otherwise disappearing.

Bricks, bottles and other objects were the order of the day as residents rained any object within their reach at the location where they sighted the bandit.

One resident said he began attempting to intimidate the bandit by shouting that he was armed with a pistol, which sent the man into frenzied shooting as residents dived for cover.

He said that as the man shot, he, the ex-soldier, kept shouting to Forde that he knew how many rounds Forde had left.

The man said that he tried to summon the East La Penitence police via his cellular phone but failed, which prompted him to use a motorbike as transportation to the station.

“They immediately sent a patrol vehicle to the area. When the police arrived, the man, still cornered, fired a shot at the police and jumped into the ‘Blacka'. There was an exchange of gunfire between him and the police, and I think that was when he got finished.”

Forde was said to have been scheduled to leave for Barbados tomorrow.

Some residents said the other bandit, known to many in Sophia as ‘Bald Head' and Black Boy, who lives in Lodge and whose mother vends at the Lodge Government School, escaped using a dam that led out of the ‘A' Field area.

Hanover , by this time, was hot on his trail. He said that he chased the man all the way to the vicinity of Mayor Hamilton Green's residence, where he summoned help from a guard at the location. Up to news time, the gunman remained at large.

The dead gunman's sister said that two men, whom she identified as Tall Boy and Black Boy, picked up her brother from home at about 07:00 hours. She said that she got the news from people in the Sophia area.

Hanover had been robbed on four previous occasions. “The government de gi me wha ah ask for, so I could do something this time, so I didn't frighten,” the man related.

According to Hanover , the robbers had extracted some $300,000 in jewellery and $200,000 in cash from the home before escaping.

Forde's brother was said to have been executed over a year ago while riding his motorcycle on his way home.

When relatives arrived while Forde's body was still on the scene, they erupted in screams and wails. His wife, who bore him three children, fainted.

There were confrontations between Forde's relatives and the Sophia residents, who vehemently gloated over his death. While some shouted “Anybody try fuh rob we must dead”, others shouted, “He right fuh dead, he too thief”.

The police prevented any physical confrontation.

(Alex Wayne)