Gunshots ring out during Vigilance unrest

Oct 01, 2026 News

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…No arrests made as police turn to CCTV to identify suspects

(Kaieteur News) – Gunshots rang out in the Vigilance-Buxton area on Tuesday shortly before a sand truck was set on fire, even as police intensified investigations into the unrest that erupted on Tuesday.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF), in a statement issued hours after the incident, said it received information that several loud explosions, suspected to be gunshots, were heard in the area shortly before the truck was found burning. Police said the sand truck, which was along the Railway Embankment at Buxton, was found with extensive fire damage to its front cabin. The blaze was subsequently extinguished by the Guyana Fire Service.

However, police said CCTV cameras have been identified in the surrounding area and footage will be reviewed as investigators seek to identify persons involved in the incidents. The development came amid a tense afternoon in Vigilance, where police and firefighters faced resistance from persons who had blocked access points with burning tyres, wood and other debris.

According to police, at about 4:40 p.m., ranks were proceeding to a location in Vigilance in connection with an ongoing investigation when they encountered the roadblocks. The Guyana Fire Service was summoned, but persons at the scene allegedly hurled debris at firefighters while continuing to add combustible materials to the fires. Police said patrols remain in the area as investigations continue.

The unrest stemmed from the arrest of the wife and brother of US-sanctioned businessman Mark Cromwell, who has been linked to the investigation into the disappearance of two Surinamese nationals, Van Dalen Lorenzo, 28, and Derryl Danillo, 29. The two men reportedly travelled from Suriname to Guyana on August 28 and have not been seen or heard from since.

Tuesday’s confrontation reportedly intensified when police attempted to execute a search warrant at Cromwell’s home and were allegedly prevented from doing so by persons at the scene. The latest police statement, however, adds a new dimension to the investigation, with suspected gunfire, the torching of a vehicle and the review of CCTV footage now forming part of the probe. Police have urged persons with information that could assist the investigation to come forward.

Tuesday’s mayhem mirrored a similar unrest back in 2023 when ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit carried out an operation in the village of Buxton during which they arrested a man connected with Cromwell. On February 1, 2023 residents of Buxton blocked the public road and the Railway Embankment and torched a truck following the CANU operation in the area. The massive protest erupted between 10:00 and 11:00hrs and lasted until 15:00hrs after shots were reportedly fired by the CANU ranks while arresting a suspect identified as, Odearie Phillips, 25, of Vigilance, ECD. CANU had reportedly tried to intercept Phillips’ car during an operation along the ECD but he reportedly evaded ranks at a road block set up at Buxton.  The ranks suspected that he might have been carrying drugs and chased him into Buxton and were eventually able to arrest him with some $7M worth of marijuana (23.2 Kilograms) after his car came to a halt in a trench.

However, CANU had said that while arresting Phillips, its officers were forced to fire warning shots after Buxtonians became hostile and assaulted some of them for trying to apprehend him.  “Members of the public became hostile, assaulted several officers and damaged several of the unit’s vehicles in an attempt to free Phillips who was in lawful custody by pulling him out of CANU’s vehicle, this resulted in several shots being discharged into the air”, CANU stated back then in a release. The Buxtonians on the other hand claimed that they became angry because the CANU ranks had endangered their lives by recklessly “shooting up”.  Tuesday’s skirmishes were also reminiscent of the escapee-led violence that enveloped the Buxton community between 2003-2011.

Meanwhile, Cromwell has been fingered in a number of crimes at least one of which the police had issued a wanted bulletin for him. Back in October 2024 five months after the abduction of an ex-policeman, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) had issued wanted bulletins for Cromwell also called ‘Diamond/ Demon’ and 28-year-old Kevral Hatton called, ‘Smokey.’

The abducted man was identified as Delon Alexander. Up to today he has not been found. Police reported then that the abduction occurred on May 7, 2024 on Church of God Road, Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD). Cromwell’s last known address was given as Lot 40 Vigilance and Lot 10 Buxton, ECD. Cromwell was also charged that same year with assault and remanded to prison after he was caught on camera beating traffic rank, Constable Harlequin. He had appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Rushell Liverpool.

In 2015 Cromwell was held in connection with the death of 68-year-old security guard Michael Woolford. The guard was shot on September 9, 2015, while on duty at the Cummings Lodge Secondary School. He was not charged for the crime. It was alleged that on September 9, one man had chopped another in the vicinity of the Cummings Lodge Secondary, when a third man emerged from a car and fired several shots. A bullet struck Woolford, who was on duty at the school. Cromwell was the alleged shooter it was reported. In May of 2015, Cromwell who was dismissed from the force some time ago was again the subject of a wanted bulletin following the interception of a large arms cache at the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) Wharf. The cache had included two AK 47 rifles, four .40 pistols, eleven 9mm. pistols, 15 extra magazines for the firearms, 489 various caliber rounds for the firearms and a body protection vest. Jamal Murphy, 21, of Lot 40 Vigilance South, East Coast Demerara, was charged in connection with the arms find.

In June 2025, Cromwell was among several other Guyanese including Senior Superintendent Himnauth Sawh who were sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) In a statement back then, the OFAC had updated its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list, naming the thirty-seven-year-old senior officer of Cane Grove, as well as businessman Paul Daby Jr., 40, also known as “Daby Ramsuchit”, “Paul”, “Rondell” and “Randell” of Georgetown; Cromwell and 50-year-old Randolph Duncan for drug trafficking.

OFAC stated at the time that for decades, Guyana has been a transhipment point for the movement of drugs from South America to the United States and Europe. “Drug traffickers exploit the rivers and jungles of South America by transiting large quantities of cocaine, from Colombia and Venezuela, through the waters of Guyana and Suriname,” it was stated. OFAC outlined that Guyana’s proximity to the Caribbean, as well as reported corruption along its ports and borders, allows maritime vessels, also known as narco-submarines, to transit through its waters undetected.

It was stated that traffickers utilise these vessels to smuggle cocaine from the ports of Guyana and Suriname, across the Atlantic, to the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean. OFAC said, too, that traffickers also coordinate the importation of cocaine loads from Colombia and Venezuela to Guyana via small aircraft, utilising illegal airstrips in Guyana as landing spots. “Cocaine has been discovered buried in underground bunkers located on airstrips and in jungle territory, with Guyana’s Barima-Waini region as a prominent location. Cocaine is then flown, via aircraft, to the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean,” it was stated. Following a US$188 million drug bust on August 31st, this publication had reported that a senior police officer was allegedly connected with the cocaine bust at Matthew’s Ridge, Region One. A Joint Services team, led by the CANU, on Saturday unearthed approximately 4.4 tons (4,400 kilos) of suspected cocaine, which has a current street value of US$188 million, at a nearby illegal airstrip at Matthew’s Ridge. Neatly stashed, the cocaine was found buried in four hand-dug pits, each averaging five to six feet deep, and covered with tarpaulins, wood, and bushes.

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• Buxton, gunshots, unrest, Vigilance

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