Two employees of a Pakistani-owned supermarket in Gordon’s Bay were used as human shields - one of them killed - in a shootout between five skelms and security guards on Monday night.
The skelms held workers at gunpoint and robbed the Gordon’s Bay Supermarket & Take Away, which is located at a BP petrol station.
However, a wakker garage employee activated the alarm panic button, triggering a swift response from Gordon’s Bay Security (GBS).
The skelms exited the store with an undisclosed amount of money while using the two employees as a shield, before shots rang out.
Heyns de Waal, the Chief Operating Officer of GBS, says the suspects fired shots first and his officers responded by firing back.
De Waal says: “One suspect was seen falling to the ground, heavily injured. He was picked up by his colleagues and dragged to the corner where a vehicle was waiting in the side street and he was pushed in.”
He says the security vehicles were also shot at during the shootout.
A 32-year-old employee was shot in the buttocks, while his 35-year-old male co-worker was unfortunately killed.
It is not certain whose bullets killed the man but according to De Waal, it appears as if the robbers shot the man from behind.
De Waal explains: “The people inside the shop said the robbers took two of the staff members and pushed them outside, and started firing at us.
“The one worker that could talk said as soon as he exited the door, he felt that he was shot in the buttocks.
“I can’t tell you about the second worker that is deceased, whether he was shot in the head or the back, I believe he was shot from behind as well.”
According to witnesses the five robbers all got away in a white VW Golf 5.
The shop owner wasn’t available for comment.
Police spokesperson, Sergeant Wesley Twigg, confirms the incident and says no arrests have been made yet: “Gordon’s Bay police are investigating cases of business robbery, murder and attempted murder following a robbery at a supermarket in Faure Marine Drive, Gordon’s Bay on Monday.”