KINGSTON, Jamaica —The police high command is assuring that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has complete responsibility for the full payment of all costs incurred for the treatment of the two officers who were shot and injured during a robbery in May Pen, Clarendon on Sunday. 

The two lawmen were among other police officers who were engaged in a confrontation with gunmen when they approached a supermarket, which was being robbed in Guinep Tree in the parish.

“All arrangements for the treatment of both policemen were made by the JCF’s Welfare Officer, Assistant Superintendent Raymond Wilson,” said the high command in a statement yesterday.

It was responding to claims in a television news broadcast that the CT scan for one of the two policemen had to be paid for by a businessman.

Noting that the claim was incorrect, the JCF explained that: “The hospital was not able to provide the CT scan and as a consequence, arrangements were made with a senior manager at a private diagnostic facility by ASP Wilson and the scan was administered”.

Meanwhile, the lawmen are imploring business operators to install panic alarm systems at their establishments and to use reputable security companies to pick up and secure cash for lodgement.

According to the police, the robbers involved in the gun attack on the police officers used the operator of the supermarket as a shield and made their escape in three motor vehicles, one of which was stolen from the scene.

It is further reported that two of the vehicles were intercepted and the gunmen fled, leaving behind one Remington shotgun, three M-16 magazines, one 9mm magazine and $496,000.

However, the police said they escaped with more than $3 million and two iPhone smartphones which together are valued more than $200,000.

The police high command has since commended the officers who responded to the scene of the robbery.

“I hear the concerns of citizens regarding the police’s weaponry and their response to this incident. The first officers on scene were regular beat patrol officers, and the preservation of the lives of the hostages – who were used as human shields by the gunmen – was of top priority. These first responders were subsequently supported by other police, including one who used his personal vehicle to block the suspects, and their collective response caused the gunmen to abandon two vehicles, leading to the release of a hostage and the recovery of some of the stolen money,” said Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson.