Residents at the Palms, Brickdam were sent into a panic late Tuesday night when two stray bullets from a shoot-out between several men on Brickdam, hit their building.
One of the bullets went through a ground floor window and lodged in a trolley while the other bullet lodged in the wall beside a window. If the second bullet had gone through the wall, an employee told Stabroek News, it could have a hit a patient.
A senior police source has since told this newspaper that the shooting resulted from an attempted robbery. Some time around 11 pm three men attempted to rob a businessman on Brickdam, Stabroek.
The businessman, the source explained, is a licensed firearm holder and he opened fire on his attackers.
After the man opened fire, one attacker fled in one direction while his other colleagues ran in the other direction. As they fled, the men returned fire at the businessman.
The businessman has since given a statement to police and, according to the source, the matter is being investigated.
Stray bullets hit the Palms building, the source said, but no one was injured during the incident. The source further reported that one warhead was recovered from the Palms compound early yesterday morning when police visited.
Stabroek News also learnt, from a source within the Palms, that some of the men involved in the shooting emerged from a white car. More than five shots were discharged and then the white car fled the scene.
Two unarmed security guards were on duty at the time and ran for cover after the shooting erupted.
Calls to the emergency hotline 911 were futile for more than 30 minutes after the shooting. During this time, the source said, the men in the white car showed up at the Palms. The men said that they were police and were there to look over the scene.
“They came in and they started searching. They stayed for a few minutes and one of them found a warhead,” the source said.
“After that they just left but only after one of the nurses started shouting at them because we knew they were not police from the car… When the police came this morning they found the other warhead that was lodged in the trolley.”
There are several houses in the area where the shooting occurred.
How-ever, when approached residents refused to comment. Several attempts made to contact Police Public Relations Officer Ivelaw Whittaker for further details were futile. Police up to last evening had not issued a statement regarding the incident.
