SHAKEN BY GUN ATTACK

EVERY TIME *Samantha Smith hears a loud noise outside her business place in Albion, St Thomas, she gets tense. She is immediately transported back to last Saturday when gunmen, toting high-powered weapons, attempted to rob a Beryllium armoured vehicle delivering cash to an automated-teller machine (ATM) in the plaza where her business is located.

“I was on the inside and I heard the loud explosion, and I thought it was a truck, but then I was like, ‘no’, so I ran and hid myself,” she said.

Video footage of the incident showed the robbers aiming bullets in the direction of the Beryllium security guards. One security guard was injured, and the police are said to have intercepted and engaged vehicles suspected to be involved in the ensuing shootout.

According to statements from Beryllium Limited, the criminals did not get any cash. And the injuries the guard sustained were non-life-threatening.

Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Corporate Communications Unit, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)Stephanie Lindsay, told The Gleaner that the gunmen who carried out this latest robbery are still at large, a week after the incident occurred.

In the meantime, Smith explained that she was very shaken up by the unexpected event, which disrupted the otherwise peaceful area.

“At night, I hear the shots still in my head, but it will be over soon, once Christ is in the vessel you will smile at the storm. He will take the fear away from me, I have no doubt,” she said.

And even though she had to close her business place early on the day of the robbery, she said it has not been impacted otherwise.

“I was kinda shocked the next day when I came to work, it was business as usual, I was like ‘wow’,” she said.

After reading reports of Beryllium security guards being attacked by robbers in St Catherine and St Elizabeth recently and making off with about $33 million, another business owner told The Gleaner that he knew it was only a matter of time before emboldened robbers hit his parish.

Luckily, he said he was not in the vicinity when it happened.

“I felt it coming…In my head I was saying, ‘God mi nuh wah deh ya when dem come ya’, so when mi see it, I was like ‘wow’,” he said.

The business owner explained that although things appear to be back to normal, he is still fearful of another attack.

“Especially when I see them (Beryllium security guards) come back, and go to load the machine,” he said.

He believes that the security forces should offer support to the Beryllium guards to aid his peace of mind.

A vendor, who said that she ran from her business place when she heard the explosions, said the incident has left her traumatised and scared.

“But what to do, pickney still have to go to school, and wi have bills,” she said, explaining that even though she’s fearful she still “has to be at work”.

Meanwhile, SSP Lindsay shared that the business owners’ reaction to the incident is understandable, especially since no suspect has been caught.

She explained that some people were taken into custody during the investigation. However, they were not treated as suspects and were released.

“We continue to try to see if we can find the persons, but we also continue to encourage the business persons to be alert, pay attention to things that seem like an anomaly and notify the police if they see something,” she said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com