FOUR armed bandits attacked the newly opened Convenience Supermarket, located at Lot 49, Aubrey Barker Street, South Ruimveldt Gardens, on Wednesday morning.An employee of the supermarket, who prefers to have their identity withheld, told this newspaper that the gunmen pretended to be customers and waited until the supermarket was occupied only by staff, before carrying out the robbery. The incident occurred around 09:05hrs and lasted for approximately 25 minutes.

This newspaper was able to view the surveillance footage of the robbery and observed one of the men standing outside of the supermarket, while the other three pretended to shop inside. Once the scene was clear, the one outside closed the grill and entrance door after he pulled out his gun.

The other men, who were also armed with guns, ordered the staff comprising a sales girl and three Chinese nationals, who own the supermarket, to the upper flat of the building where they reside. They were ordered to bring out the cash which amounted to $700, 000. Upon hesitating to do so, one of the Chinese nationals was hit in his head with a gun.
The gunmen then returned downstairs where they ransacked the cashier’s section and also carted off phone cards and cellphones. The police were called to the scene and responded in less than five minutes; they subsequently obtained a copy of the surveillance footage.
One of the gunmen covered his face with a towel, while the others were not masked. Other staff members, who seemed to still be in a state of shock, were unable to comment. The supermarket opened its doors less than a month ago.