WESTERN BUREAU – Two alleged robbers were yesterday shot and killed by the police and another chopped to death by irate residents shortly after they reportedly held up the manager of Shoppers’ Choice Supermarket on the busy Llandilo main road in Westmoreland.

The supermarket manager, Lena West, 52, was shot during the hold up and has been admitted to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

According to the police, at about 9:15 am two armed men entered the supermarket and demanded money from West. When their demand was not met, the men reportedly opened fire, hitting the supermarket manager in the head.

They took a black plastic bag – which was later found to contain garbage – and fled the scene in a white Toyota Corolla motor car, registered 8541 EG, which was parked in front of the building.

The police and residents were alerted and the car was spotted travelling along the Llandilo main road with three men aboard by the police. During a chase the gunmen’s car crashed in the back of a route taxi and a service vehicle belonging to Jamaica Public Service Company.

The men, said the police, then alighted from the car and ran in the direction of the Llandilo Phase One Housing Scheme, firing shots at the police and residents.

The police returned the fire and the men ran in different directions. Two of the men were found suffering from gunshot wounds while the other was held and beaten to death by an irate mob. All three were taken to hospital where they were pronounced dead and their bodies later removed to the morgue.

The police said they recovered a Ruger 9mm pistol with its serial number erased, and a magazine with four rounds of 9mm cartridges from one of the men.

The police said one of the alleged gunmen had been identified up to late last night. His name was given as Kemar Gordon of Truro district in Westmoreland.

John Morris, the police superintendent in charge of crime for Area One, said last night that the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) has been called in to probe the incident.

He said, however, that he was awaiting the post-mortem results on the gunman who was allegedly killed by the mob.

“I am awaiting the results of the post-mortem and the investigations because he (the gunman) had what appeared to be gunshot to the head,” Morris said. He said that he would be guided by the investigations.

Earlier yesterday, commanding officer for the Westmoreland Police Division, Senior Superintendent Jasmine Tomlinson-Brown commended the swift action of the residents in helping the police.

She said the residents and the police have over the years developed a very good relationship in an effort to reduce crime and violence in the parish.

“We, along with the help of the citizens, have been working very hard to reduce crime and it has been paying off,” Tomlinson-Brown said, noting that criminal activities have been on the decline in her division.

A businesswoman in the Llandilo community, who gave her name only as “Tat”, also commended the residents and the police for their swift action and showed no remorse for the death of the alleged gunmen.

“Killing them is wonderful; it means that three gunmen are now off the streets,” she stressed. “The police and the citizens must be commended; they acted very, very fast,” added the businesswoman.

She, like many other community members, expressed sympathy for West, who was shot in the hold- up.

“Miss West is like a member of mi family. She is someone who I can sit and talk to and she always give me words of encouragement,” she said.

The residents said they are hoping that the killing of the three alleged gunmen would send a signal to others that criminal activities in the community would not be tolerated.

“We just want any thief out there to know that a so we a go deal with dem case if dem try anything like that down here,” the irate residents said.