By Gemma Handy
A man was killed and two others left injured, one of them critically, after a shootout between police and alleged armed robbers yesterday afternoon.
Videos being widely circulated on social media showed three men on the ground in the Ebenezer area of Valley Road.
Police had been responding to an earlier report of a brazen armed robbery at a Parham superette, in which two men apparently made off with EC$1,500.
Force bosses put patrols on alert and the purported assailants were intercepted by one of the patrol teams in Ebenezer a short time later, Commissioner Atlee Rodney confirmed last night.
“They aimed a gun at the police and that is where the exchange of fire took place,” Rodney told state media.
Commissioner Rodney said a gun and modified flare gun had been found in the attackers’ car.
The dead man has been informally named to Observer as 28-year-old Jamar Smith. Sources said he received multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen and pelvis. Clinton Oliver, 31, was left critically injured, also with multiple gunshot wounds, and was in the hospital’s operating room up to last night. Kouna Joseph, 18, had gunshot wounds and a fractured femur.
The ensuing mayhem saw busy Valley Road temporarily closed to traffic causing long delays for several hours.
The attack on the Parham store is the latest in a lengthy spate of terrifying armed robberies that have targeted small businesses across Antigua, terrorising staff and customers. The business owner said she had been left badly shaken by the ordeal.
“This type of behaviour is unacceptable; we will remain resolute in protecting the people of Antigua and Barbuda,” Commissioner Rodney vowed.
He said police had already upped patrols in light of the current crime situation.
He urged the public to continue to support police as they strive to keep the nation safe – and warned parents of their responsibility in keeping youngsters on the straight and narrow, saying that some of the perpetrators in recent incidents had been “very young”.
“We will continue to support every officer who goes out there and risks his life for the safety of the nation,” Rodney added.
