Man caught in crossfire during $2m armed robbery at Westmoreland supermarket
WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – A man is nursing a gunshot wound in hospital after being struck in a shootout between police and armed robbers at a Chinese-owned supermarket in Darliston, Westmoreland on Tuesday afternoon.
The incident took place at the Flying Dragon Shopping Center and Meat Plus Supermarket, shortly after 2:00 pm.
Reports from the police are that three men, one identified only as ‘Buddy’, entered the supermarket where they brandished firearms and ordered the occupants not to move.
The gunmen then proceeded to rob a total of $2,270,000, from the owner of the establishment, a Chinese businesswoman.
The Darliston police were alerted and three officers responded to the report, on foot.
The report added that, upon their arrival at the scene, the cops were fired at by the robbers. Two of the officers then took evasive action in fear of their lives and returned gunfire, in the direction of the gunmen.
It is understood that a licensed firearm holder also traded bullets with the gunmen before they fled the scene in a motorcar.
After the shooting subsided, a civilian turned up to the police station suffering from a gunshot injury to his right arm. The man, who is suspected to have been caught in the crossfire, was assisted to the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital where he was treated and admitted in a stable condition.
No police officer was injured during the incident.
The police suspect, however, that one of the gunmen was shot, after blood was seen on a nearby vehicle.
Investigations are ongoing.