A gunman last night shot a 21-year-old student nurse as he went about his duties at his part-time job as an internet café attendant on Sheriff Street last night.

Bobby Hemraj was up to press time undergoing surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), where he was said to be in a critical condition. Nothing was taken from the café and the circumstances of the incident have led to his mother asking that the family’s address not be published.

Reports reaching this newspaper are that shortly after 9 pm; two men went to Hemraj’s workplace at Plaza Computers Services at 245 Sheriff Street and requested to make a phone call. The internet café offers browsing as well as telephone and internet calls.

The owner, Neil Lewis told Stabroek News that Hemraj was the only employee there at the time and as he had been the victim of previous robberies, there are grills separating the office space from the customer area. Lewis said he was told that as Hemraj went to give the phone to the men, one of them pulled out a gun and shot him in the abdomen. Lewis was not there at the time and related that he was given the information by another person, who was on the scene. He said that he was told that no demands for money were made.

The businessman stated that he received a call after 9 pm and went to the café and checked but all the phones were there as well as the money. He noted that another customer, who was using the computer for browsing was robbed of his cellular phone.  Following, the incident, Hemraj was rushed to the GPH, and was taken for emergency surgery.

Last night sobbing relatives awaited as the surgery was done and Hemraj’s mother, Gloria said that his condition as critical. She related that the café had been robbed before and persons were charged. The upset woman said that her son had gone to court to give evidence and the suspect had threatened that he would “come after him”. She could not say what had become of the matter since Hemraj had testified about a year ago.

Lewis said that nothing appeared to have been taken from his café. “Nothing stolen at all”, he asserted. He confirmed that his business had been robbed before and said that Hemraj had been working for him for about two and a half years.