Shot fired at Police officer during attempted robbery in Barataria

A Diego Martin police officer is nursing gunshot wounds at the hospital after he was shot during an attempted robbery in Barataria on July 31. The 39-year-old officer of Santa Cruz Police Station had an encounter with two men around 9 pm in the vicinity of a Supermarket.

According to police reports, the officer had just entered his van which was parked near the YH Supermarket at the corner of Ninth Street and Ninth Avenue, Barataria, when a white Nissan Tiida pulled up behind him.

Two men exited the Tiida, one went to the driver’s side of the van and the other approached the front passenger window; one was armed with what appeared to be a firearm. As the scene developed, one of the men opened the front passenger door of the car and declared a robbery.

The officer immediately heard an explosion and in response, drew his licensed firearm and shot at the suspects. The robbers turned and ran back to their vehicle, with the armed robber firing a shot in the direction of the van before they drove away in a northerly direction in their getaway Tiida.

It was only when the suspects ran off that the officer realized he had been shot as he felt a burning sensation to his right arm. Not just withstanding his wound, he managed to radio his colleagues in the North-Eastern Division for help.

Officers of the Barataria Criminal Investigation Department (CID) led by PC Castillo and PC Bhajan were the first officers to arrive at the scene and immediately sealed off the area to preserve evidence and provide safety for other residents. Injured officer was taken for medical treatment to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex Mt. Hope where he currently remains warded in a stable condition.

A team of senior officers from the North-Eastern Division, headed by Superintendent Birch, are currently working on the case and are said to be “following several significant leads”.

Meanwhile, police have urged anyone with information on the identity or whereabouts of the suspects in question, who fled the scene in a maroon Kia Picanto registered 3AX140, to come forward.