Police in Vieux Fort are currently investigating the robbery of a supermarket in the community from which an undisclosed sum of money and a quantity of items were stolen.
The supermarket, Family Food Mart, located in La resource, Vieux Fort, was robbed by two masked men, one of whom had a gun. The robbers, in what appears to be a well crafted plan, barged into the establishment when it was opened by the security guard on duty to allow an employee to leave the building.
The incident, which left employees of the supermarket bewildered, terrified and traumatized, occurred on Monday, July 1 just after 9.00 p.m. when the establishment was about to close.
Upon realizing that the supermarket was being robbed, the staff made a dash for cover, but were all forced into the building by the robbers, who then proceeded to the accounts department where they stole an undisclosed sum of money. They also searched the bags of the employees.
When this reporter visited the supermarket yesterday, its staff was still struggling to come to terms with the harsh reality.
Commenting on the robbery, the manager of the Supermarket, Vitalia Harris, said the incident has left her very traumatized. She said she was in the accounts department when the robbers stole the money but could do nothing about it.
Geddes Joseph, the lone unarmed security guard at the establishment at the time of the incident, said; “Up to now I can’t eat. I was shaking. It’s just terrible, very terrible…”
According to the visibly shaken security guard, he had just opened the door for an employee to leave the building when he encountered the shock of his life.
“The men, who were all in black just rushed into the building. One of them had a silver firearm in his hand. When they entered the building, they told us to go in the manager’s office, which we did…” Joseph recounted.
The robbers were captured on the CCTV camera in the supermarket committing the act. In the footage, one staff member can be seen holding her chest, while another makes upward gestures, as though appealing for divine intervention.
The men made their escape on board a waiting vehicle.
No one was injured during the robbery.
It is the first time such an incident has occurred at the supermarket which was opened two and a half years ago.
At press time, the Vieux Fort Police Station could not be reached for comment, however, a number of business owners in the southern community have reported robberies at their establishments in the past weeks and months. A robbery at Greene’s Wholesale and Retail on Clarke Street, Vieux Fort was also captured on CCTV, while the Quality Tobacco Store, also in Vieux Fort, was broken into after robbers cut the burglar bars on the side of the building, forcing a window open.
Store operators have long since expressed their suspicions that gang activity might be in play in the recent incidents, with at least one business man going on record as saying, “The young men in Vieux Fort who are committing the crimes just do not want to work. At this point, we need police intervention.”