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Guard killed, guns, ammo stolen in military-style operation at Ogle Airport
Donna Harris, the reputed wife of the dead guard collapses at the Lyken Funeral Home after seeing his body.
In what was described as a military style operation, gunmen shot a security guard dead and carted off four firearms, $100,000 and other items during an early morning raid on the Ogle Airport yesterday.
Solomon Burke, 55, of 27 Vigilance, East Coast Demerara, and a driver attached to Correia’s Security Services was shot dead while resting in the company’s minibus that was parked at the site.
From all appearances he was ambushed by the bandits who had entered the facility from the unguarded rear and who shot him at close range to his heart.
With one threat taken care of, the gunmen proceeded to ransack the finance office of the Correia Mining Company at the Ogle Airport, carting off cash and other valuables before turning their attention to the small armoury that houses the company’s firearms.
According to police, the gunmen escaped with two Remington 12-guage shotguns and 37 cartridges, two .32 Taurus pistols and matching rounds, and four bullet proof vests all belonging to the company, which also operates the Trans Guyana Airways.
The incident which occurred around 04:30 hours, left scores of passengers waiting to travel into the interior stranded as police cordoned off the area for several hours as they meticulously combed the area for clues.
This newspaper understands that they were subsequently able to recover a bullet proof vest and a camouflage hat which they strongly believe were left behind by the bandits as they fled via the Ogle Airport runway.
A source at the location explained to this newspaper that Burke, who is originally from Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, and a former member of the Guyana Defence Force, was taking a nap in the bus he was detailed to drive, while another guard was in the guard hut several metres away.
According to the source, the guard in the hut told investigators that she heard a strange sound and saw when the lights were switched off and became very suspicious.
However she did not hear any alarm from Burke.
She subsequently made contact with her superior who eventually arrived on the scene only to find Burke lying motionless in the minibus with blood on the front of his shirt.
The police were eventually called in.
“These men had a lot of time to do what they did,” an employee of the Correia Mining Company told Kaieteur News.
He said that from all appearances the bandits were careful not to arouse other guards who were on the location at that time of the morning.
Police Divisional Commander, Assistant Commissioner Gavin Primo, told this newspaper that the heist bears all the hallmarks of a precise military operation.
He said that after reviewing footage from surveillance cameras on location, “it is clear that the men operated with military precision.”
However, according to Primo, the footage was not clear enough for investigators to immediately identify the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, Burke’s reputed wife, Donna Harris, remained in a state of shock at his tragic passing.
Speaking to this newspaper after identifying his body at the Lyken Funeral Parlour, Harris said that she was preparing for his return home from work when her brother in law received a telephone call.
“He tell me that they needed us at the Ogle airport urgently. They did not tell us what happened,” Harris explained.
She indicated that although she sensed that something serious had happened, she was not prepared for the shocking news that she subsequently received.
As she was preparing to leave her home, a neighbour informed her that Burke was killed.
“I fell down,” she said.
Confused, she eventually went to the Georgetown Hospital from where she was sent to the Lyken Funeral Parlour where she saw for herself that her reputed husband of five years had indeed perished.
She said that Burke who had been working with the company for about five years, had left for work shortly before 19:00 hours on Sunday.
Ironically, he was to commence serving a one week suspension from yesterday.
Yesterday’s killing at the Ogle Airport comes four years after the discovery of the bound bodies of two Air Services Limited security guards at the same facility.
Hemraj Saroop, 60, of Lot 33 Industry, East Coast Demerara and Chandradeo Arjun, 50, of Crown Dam, Industry, were clubbed about the body and strangled by their attackers, who escaped in Arjun’s Toyota Carina.
The killers had made off with a computer that controls the flight simulator, another computer which monitors the surveillance cameras and a firearm. No one has so far been charged with the murders.
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