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Money Changer shot during brazen robbery on Water Street
By Shervin Belgrave
Kaieteur News – Two armed motorbike bandits on Monday brazenly robbed two Money Changers and shot one of them among a crowd of vendors and shoppers along Water Street, Georgetown.
The victims have been identified as a 66-year-old male Pensioner of Vlissengen Road, Georgetown, and a 41-year-old man of Sophia. Both men were reportedly plying their trade on Water Street when the two men, one armed with a gun pounced on them around 13:45h in the vicinity of KFC.
The duo snatched cash – local and foreign currency – from both men but shot the 66-year-old man after he fought them. The Pensioner is hospitalized in a stable condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Police said in a report.
According to Police they ruffed up the Sophia man and snatched his stack of cash first before attacking the 66-year-old.
Security cameras mounted on a nearby building captured the moment the Pensioner was robbed and shot. The 66-year-old man was sitting on plastic chair next to a stall with a stack of cash in his left hand when the bandits ran towards and grabbed him. Other vendors close by ran and left their stalls while shoppers scattered.
A scuffle ensued between the bandit and the Pensioner. The bandit, armed with the gun grabbed the cash but as he was about to make his escape, the Pensioner grabbed onto second bandit and was not letting him go. According to Police, the victim had pulled out a knife from his pants waist to defend himself.
Screen grab from the robbery footage showing one of the bandits pointing a gun at the Money Changer.
It was at this point, according to the footage seen, that the armed bandit shot the money changer. The bullet struck the man to his forearm and he was forced to let go of the gunman’s accomplice. Police added that the bullet had also entered the man’s lower abdomen.
Both bandits fled the scene and were reportedly seen escaping on a motorcycle they had parked a short distance away on Water Street.
Eyewitnesses who were shopping in the area at the time said that it was a traumatizing experience for them.
One of them said that she was crossing over Water Street towards KFC to purchase a meal when she heard something like squib explode but as she was about to take another step she reportedly froze after seeing a man running away with some cash in one hand and a gun in the other.
“Me and he eye mek four, he had on a lang khaki pants, a flap hat, a black long sleeve jersey and a face mask”, recalled the woman.
A few seconds later, the woman said, she saw a man run out from behind a stall bleeding and holding onto his belly before collapsing to the ground. A crowd reportedly gathered around him quickly and an ambulance was summoned. The man, identified as a Money Changer, was rushed to the hospital.
“I wanted to go home right away, it was a scary moment, I does only read and hear about these things but it was the first time I ever witnessed it and it was not nice,” said the woman.
Others described the bandits as brazen and related that they had carried out the robbery just meters away from a parked police car.
Police, however, are yet to identify the suspects and locate them. Detectives have since obtained security footage and recovered a .32 spent shell from the scene.
Investigations are ongoing.
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