The manager of the Sunflower Hotel and Fast Food Restaurant at the corner of Cummings Street and South Road was yesterday afternoon shot and wounded by a bandit who later escaped with a bag containing $500,000 in cash.
Maria (only name given) who is a Brazilian national sustained a gunshot injury to her right hip. Hospital sources told this newspaper that the woman arrived some time after 1 pm but left the institution several hours later after she wasn’t being attended to in a timely manner.
One official said that the woman was bleeding internally and at 5 pm no proper treatment had been administered. She was still in the emergency room at that point. The official said that the woman subsequently took her own discharge and later sought medical attention at a private hospital nearby.
When Stabroek News visited the business place it was open. One worker told this newspaper that the woman was walking back to her car which was parked on South Road when she was held at gunpoint by the bandit who snatched her bag. “The thief man took her bag and everything,” this newspaper was told.
Police sources related that as the woman was standing outside her vehicle, a man came up and brandished a gun. During the confrontation a shot was discharged and the bandit grabbed the bag with the money and left the scene on a waiting motorcycle.
One senior police official said that gunpoint robberies are on the increase in the city.
The official identified Alberttown and East La Penitence as the areas where such crimes are prevalent.
The official said that on Friday night a decision was made to launch a mobile patrol operation around the city. This newspaper was told that in some of the incidents fake guns might have been used.
As the festive season begins robberies are expected to increase. As a result of this there is an increased police presence around Georgetown.
