Pentagon guard dies from gunshots

PENTAGON security guard Glen Forde succumbed late Monday to a gunshot wound he received on May 24, just one day after he celebrated his 32nd birthday. Forde’s relatives said they are neither pleased with the police investigations, nor with the treatment he received at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (PoSGH), where the Pentagon guard died around 6 pm.

Forde, of Railway Road, Guaico, was shot early May 24 when four men, three of whom were armed, stormed Caribbean Steel Mills in Arima. The men stole a firearm and four rounds of ammunition from another Pentagon guard, Gerard Flanders. Forde put up a struggle with one of the bandits and during the struggle, he was shot in his lower abdomen. Although injured, police said Forde, who is married with a two-year-old daughter, ran after the men. It is alleged that as the men were running, Forde heard one of them shout to his accomplices that police were on the scene and they should leave the building. Yesterday, a Pentagon source said Forde recognised the voice of his killer and that this information was passed on to the police.  They said nothing was done and the alleged killer left for Tobago last Sunday.

The Pentagon source said they are also convinced that the murder/robbery is an inside job because of information received. Forde’s younger brother, Gary, who also worked as a Pentagon guard but left after his wife expressed fears for his safety, was also critical of the police. Gary said his brother was not assigned police protection on Ward 21, where Forde had been warded. He said there was one police officer on the ward, but that that officer was assigned to a prisoner. “We spoke to the Arima police, but he got no protection,” Gary said. Gary also said that his brother began to bleed sometime on Monday and that when they informed hospital authorities, they were told that Forde was “OK”. Gary said his brother then started to tell them that he was “leaving”, but that he was going to put up a fight. Gary said prayers were said and that some time after, his brother started gasping for breath.

He said his brother was then given an injection and never regained consciousness.  “They ought to have revived him first,” Gary said. Gary also said that his brother had been at Pentagon for the past eight years and that he had asked him to leave the job and do another job. Gary refused. Pentagon executive director Raymond Pariag said Forde was like a son to him and that he was very hurt. Pariag added that Forde is the second Pentagon guard to have been gunned down in one month.  On April 24, Rajkumar Maraj was shot and killed at the Barataria arm of Health Net. Maraj was due to retire from his job. Pariag also said that the company will bear Forde’s funeral expenses.  The Arima Criminal Investigations Department is continuing investigations.