According to a resident, about 21:00 hours she was preparing to go to bed when she heard the rapid gunshots a short distance away and immediately thought of her daughter who had left for a function in the village.

"All I hear is the loud sounds of "bang' 'bang' for a few minutes before it subsided and I went to look for my daughter who was on her way home," she said.

She however, was forced to seek shelter in the nearby gas station when the gunshots rang out.

There were no reports of injuries.

The three men entered the minibus at Haslington, East Coast Demerara and told the driver that they were going to the city but when the minibus approached Company Road, Buxton the gunman who was seated in the front seat next to the driver pulled out a gun and ordered the driver to stop the bus.

His two accomplices joined him and began robbing the occupants of cash, jewellry and other valuables at gunpoint.

At this point a police mobile patrol, which was passing, observed the gunmen and the minibus, as they were approaching the minibus the gunmen opened fire at the patrol.

This led to a confrontation, the gunmen then fled into Buxton.

Residents in the area thought that it was another gun battle among bandits who frequent the village.

It was unclear whether the gunmen were residents of Buxton.

The Vigilance mobile patrol, which came under fire by the gunmen later, reported the matter.

The dawn of the New Year serves as a grim reminder of last year's rampant robbery of several minibuses operators and its commuters at gun point while passing through the troubled village of Buxton.

Wednesday, February 11, 2004