WESTERN BUREAU – Armed robbers yesterday shot and killed a Westmoreland welder at a bar in the parish and made off with $11,000 in cash, some jewellery and a Nissan Frontier motor vehicle that was later destroyed.

The slain man, whose death brings to 21 the number of murders committed in the parish since the start of the year, is 40 year-old Cliff Robinson of Strathbogie District.

Eric Derson, a sales representative employed to a company in Savanna-la-Mar and to whom the stolen Nissan Frontier belonged, was injured during the incident. The injured man, 53, is in hospital in stable condition, according to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) officer for the parish, Constable Odean Dennis.

According to police reports, at about 1:10 am yesterday, the two men were among customers at a bar in Bath when a Toyota Corolla motor car, with the three armed men aboard, drove up. The trio got out of the vehicle, entered the bar and held the customers at gunpoint. They robbed Robinson of $7,000 in cash and his jewellery, took $4,000 cash from a second customer, while a third was robbed of his Nokia cellular phone, Constable Dennis said. The robbers then left the bar, taking the keys to Derson’s Nissan Frontier.

As they made their getaway, they opened fire on the persons in the bar, hitting Robinson and the sales representative. The welder was pronounced dead at hospital while the other man was admitted.

The Nissan Frontier was later found in a cane field at Shrewsbury District, also in Westmoreland. The inside was severely burnt.

According to Constable Dennis, the police have no leads.

“We are recording statements right now. We have no leads at this time,” the CCN officer told the Observer yesterday.