An employee shot and killed a man who allegedly tried to rob Palm Tree Supermarket on Palm Tree Avenue, off East Street Thursday evening, police said.
According to police, two masked men with guns entered the supermarket and demanded cash around 6:30 p.m. They engaged in a brief shoot-out with the employee, which resulted in one being shot.
The second man escaped, police said.
It is unclear if the suspect who got away was also shot.
Last week, a man who allegedly committed several armed robberies over a three-day period, was shot dead by a security guard after he allegedly robbed John Chea #8 Food Store on Carmichael Road.
The unidentified man, who was in his early 20s, allegedly robbed New Oriental Cleaners, located on the same road, earlier in the day.
Just yesterday morning, Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade warned that anyone committing a crime this holiday season, especially while using a firearm, would be “playing with their life”.
Armed robberies jumped 18 percent between January 1 and November 8, 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, police recently reported.
“Anyone in this country that assumes there is easy pickings and you turn up in a bank, a business establishment or any public place where people are shopping for the holidays, [is] going to find themselves in some serious problems,” Greenslade told reporters at Police Headquarters.
“We are not prepared to trifle with this. Anyone with a gun in their hand [who is not authorized to carry that firearm] is playing with their life. The commissioner is not going to sugarcoat that. I am not going to make any excuses or apologies for that.”
Greenslade said one of the strategies of the police force in response to the growing problem of armed robberies involves the allowing of off-duty, plain clothes police officers to work in private establishments, armed with weapons.
“That has produced tremendous benefits for businesses and members of my organization and it is something that I applaud,” he said.
Since the John Chea incident and other similar crimes, some business owners have renewed their call for the force to lend more assistance and some have requested licenses for firearms, Greenslade noted.
He said he is satisfied that the increase in police officers on the streets by nearly 100 percent has shown good results.
Police have also increased searches, according to Greenslade, who said this has caused an increase of complaints from residents who have had their homes or businesses searched.
He said these strategies speak for themselves, referencing to the most recent crime report, which reflect that crime overall is down six percent over last year.
Police have taken 458 illegal firearms and 6,000 rounds of ammunition off the streets for the year so far.
But that is a fraction of the number of weapons being circulated in the country, according to Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard Nottage.
The commissioner said the police can only do so much and once again appealed for the public to report anyone who may be carrying an illegal weapon.
“That person with a gun is a very dangerous person,” he said. “That armed robbery that looks like a simple armed robbery could go very wrong and could turn very easily into a murder.
“That gun that you [in the community] have seen before and refuse to report might just be the weapon turned on you at some point or someone near and dear to you. This is a very, very difficult thing as we are asking for the public’s support.”
By Royston Jones Jr.
Guardian Staff Reporter
