Terror in Middle Street…Two cops among five dead in shootout

Nov 13, 2013 News

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The death toll stood at five at the end of an almost three-hour gun battle between police and a berserk miner in a usually busy section of the capital city.
From 13:30 hours to about 16:00 hours yesterday, the scene at the junction of Middle and East Streets resembled that of some parts of the Middle East as battle-ready cops with high-powered weapons surrounded a house in which the man had secured himself and traded bullets with him.
In the ensuing shootout, Police Lance Corporal 20293 Michael Forde of Dennis Street, Sophia and Constable 18053 Sherwayne Pantlitz were shot dead by the businessman, Deryck Kanhai, who was eventually taken out.
This was after Kanhai had killed 38-year-old mother of three, Vanessa Vyphuis, of North Ruimveldt, a dispatcher at Crown Cabs Taxi Service, which is headquartered in the bottom flat of his house on Middle Street, and 75-year-old security guard Hugh Paul popularly known as Bonny.
Kanhai had also wounded a taxi driver attached to the service in a fit of rage that reportedly stemmed from his anger as a result of his 25-year-old lover walking out on him a week ago.
Police in a press release said that at about 13:30hours yesterday, ranks responded to a report received that a man armed with a firearm was discharging rounds indiscriminately at Middle and East Streets, Georgetown.
The police said that on arrival at the scene, the ranks found the bodies of Vanessa Williams, also known as Vanessa Vyphuis, and another man who was later identified as 75-year old Hugh Paul lying on Middle Street.
Enquiries also revealed that the alleged shooter, who was identified as a miner and licenced firearm holder Deryck Kanhai, and who had apparently gone berserk, had retreated into his home above the taxi service.
“A standoff ensued between the police ranks and Deryck Kanhai as efforts were made to arrest him, during which there was exchange of gunfire and the use of tear smoke was also employed by the police.
During this period Police Lance Corporal 20293 Forde and Constable 18053 Pantlitz, 36, of Parfait Harmonie, West Coast Demerara, were shot and killed by Deryck Kanhai.
The police subsequently stormed the building and came under fire from Kanhai. The ranks returned fire and he was fatally shot.
A shotgun, a .32 pistol and a .22 pistol have been recovered by the police.
The Guyana Police Force wishes to express sincere condolences to the relatives of the two police ranks and two civilians who lost their lives in this tragic encounter,” the police statement said.
Yesterday’s incident was a real life test for the proposed police SWAT unit which is expected to come into being sometime next year, and many are of the view that a lot of training will have to be done if it is to be effective.
Eyewitnesses said that Kanhai first confronted a driver at the taxi service and shot him after a brief argument.
“He come out with he gun and start going on, and de taxi driver tell he rest heself. Like he trip out because he just shoot de man (taxi driver) just so,” the eyewitness said.
One of the taxi drivers, who declined to be identified, recalled that “Vanessa was in her office, and I was sitting with three other drivers, when I heard badam-badam (gunshots).”
At first, he thought that the base was under attack. But he then saw Kanhai coming towards him.
The driver recalled that Kanhai had a shotgun slung across his shoulder, another gun in one hand, and another in one of his pants pockets.
“I got scared, then he came straight at me.” The driver recalled that Kanhai’s eyes were “bright and bulging”.
According to the driver, Kanhai, who was cursing, grabbed him by the throat, but he struck the gunman’s hand away.
At that point, another driver Paul Raman nicknamed ‘Fat man’, said, “What you choke the man for?”
Kanhai responded, “Fat Man, get out of my f—ing yard.”
Then ‘Fat Man’ got up and was shot two times in his stomach.
“Fat man said, ‘I get shoot’ and I saw blood on his clothes.” According to the driver, he told his wounded colleague to run, and also shouted to Vanessa Vyphuis to flee.
“I tell Vanessa to run, but by that time he corner her by the door and shot her.” The driver said that he then fled with his wounded colleague, to the GPHC.
He described the slain dispatcher as “a very nice person, who never allowed anything to upset her.”
According to reports, after shooting the taxi driver and the dispatcher, Kanhai turned his weapon on the elderly Hugh Paul, who was nearby, killing him instantly.
Constable Pantlitz was one of the ranks who was nearby and responded. But as he approached the building, he was shot by Kanhai.
By now, word of the shooting had spread and several other police ranks converged on the scene and began trading bullets with the gunman.
Even tear smoke was used to flush out Kanhai but that had to be discontinued, since it affected the patients and staff of the Balwant Singh Hospital.
More ranks, including a special unit under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner George Vyphuis and Senior Superintendent Lyndon Alves arrived and along with the help of some former combat cops, they set up a plan to eliminate the target.
“The special team came and advised that a distraction is created while the try to gain access into the building where Kanhai had secured himself,” a police source said.
It was during this operation that Lance Corporal Forde was shot dead. It is believed that Kanhai used his surveillance cameras set up around the property to his advantage, which enabled him to keep off the police for the length of time he did.
When some ranks eventually entered the building under the cover of heavy gunfire from their colleagues, Kanhai had locked himself into a room on the bottom flat from where he traded bullets with the cops.
He was no match for them.
The restless crowd that had gathered at several vantage points watching the action, sensed that the end had come for Kanhai and they began encroaching closer to the scene, presenting a challenge for the police. Eventually everything was brought under control and Kanhai’s body was whisked away to the Georgetown Hospital where he was officially pronounced dead.
While Kanhai was inside the building shooting continuously at police, his brother Aubrey Kanhai, who was initially hesitant to speak to the media, told Kaieteur News that he was on the road working taxi when he received a call from someone about the incident.
“I really don’t know what is going on. He was normal this morning. We spoke this morning before I left home for work. When I get the call and come here, I see someone lying dead on the road.”
Aubrey Kanhai added that his brother is a miner and he is clueless as to why his brother would want to kill people.
The shooting which was heard several blocks away, forced the early halt to schools in the immediate environs. Even workers in close proximity downed tools and while some hurried home, others flocked the scene to get a close-up view of the drama that many described as similar to the stand-off between the police and Linden ‘Blackie’ London at the Toucan Suites in Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara back in February 2000.
A female employee of the Balwant Singh Hospital told this newspaper that she heard a single gunshot and thought it was a large firecracker. However a few seconds later she heard rapid explosions and then realized that the sound was not that of firecrackers.
“We start running downstairs but like people see de man with he gun in de yard and everybody run back upstairs,” the hospital employee stated.
An eyewitness to yesterday’s incident said that Kanhai, who he claimed is a heavy user of cocaine, was in the habit of brandishing his gun in public and even threatening the drivers at the taxi service.
“He used to come outside when he coke up and shoot up and den go inside. You know how much time he do dat, but de man get contacts,” another eyewitness said, echoing the claims of others.
There are reports that Kanhai had shot himself in the mouth in 2010 and had calmly gone to a private hospital for treatment.
But a police source who was at the scene of the shootout said that yesterday was the first time that the police had heard of the previous incidents.
“No one ever reported them,” the police source said.
Meanwhile, Enola Pantlitz, the wife of one of the dead cops told Kaieteur News, between tears, that yesterday was her birthday, and she really did not expect something like this to happen.
Mrs. Pantlitz, who is currently enrolled at FAPC (Training School), told Kaieteur News that she and her deceased husband have two children; an 11-year-old girl and a three year-old boy.
She recalled that the last time she spoke to her husband was earlier yesterday morning when he promised to pick her up for lunch. The woman added that “work was too tight” so she could not have gone out with him yesterday.
Dolly October, the slain dispatcher’s mother, recalled that Vanessa Vyphuis left for work at around 07:00 hrs yesterday and was expected home at around 16:00 hrs.
Mrs. October, who works at Congress Place, Sophia, said that she had just left her workplace when she received a call from her eldest daughter that “a man shooting up at Vanessa workplace.”
According to Mrs. October, she then received calls from relatives who said that they were at the hospital but were not being allowed in.
It was only when she received a call from a male relative at Linden, which said that he had seen the news on the internet, that she learnt that her daughter had been killed.
The mother of the close-knit family said that she was never apprehensive about her daughter’s safety, and would “ask God to cover her all of the way.” Vanessa Vyphuis has also left to mourn her three children, aged 21, 17 and 7.

 

 

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