A firearm and three cellphones were recovered by police following a shoot-out with bandits as they sought to escape after robbing the Unipet Gas Station, St Augustine, around midday on Thursday.
The suspects were forced to abandon their getaway vehicle in the vicinity of the Tunapuna Market, as they were pursued by law enforcement.
Guardian Media understands that a 19-year-old man of St Joseph was operating the cash register at the busy store around 11:55 pm on August 8, when two men entered and announced a robbery.
As the employee’s co-workers—aged 26 and 53 years, of North Manzanilla and Tunapuna, respectively—remained outside, the armed man pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money, while the second bandit moved about the store, picking up several bottles of alcohol.
As the cashier handed over approximately TT$8,000 in cash to the men, they also relieved the security guard of a Samsung 13 cellphone, and robbed a customer who was in the store, of TT $400 in cash.
Observant members of the public alerted police to the robbery in progress, and officers of the North Central Emergency Response Patrol (NC-ERP) arrived at the location to find the two suspects exiting the store.
As the armed man pointed the gun at officers and fired, the three officers returned fire as the men got into a waiting silver Nissan Tiida, which sped off in an easterly direction along the Eastern Main Road.
The officers gave chase, causing the bandits to abandon the stolen car in the vicinity of Railway Road, Tunapuna.
Notwithstanding the officers’ efforts, they were unable to apprehend the bandits.
From the abandoned car, police officers retrieved a black Berretta PX pistol with one magazine and 17 rounds of live 9-millimetre ammunition, along with a quantity of cigarettes; and TT$2,903 in cash.
Investigations continue.