When police encountered the bandits who had robbed the Pennywise Plaza in La Romain, one woman and her family, came way too close to the action.
Annmarie Elbourne, 67, gave Guardian Media an account of the shooting. The armed bandits ran into her home where she and five members of her family were forced to take cover.
She said she heard “a hail of bullets.”
The bandits entered the house through a window. The police gave chase, cornered them in a room where the shootout occurred. Four bandits would be dead by the end of the exchange.
“I knew it was no ordinary firing,” she said. She said the police told her to go back into her home. Police checked on her to make sure she was safe and swept the house to ensure it was clear when it was all over.
In the moment she said she was calm but once it was all over she realised she was traumatised.
“I felt like if I saw God,” she cried.
She took the opportunity to commend the police service for their handling of the situation.
Elbourne called on young people to put down the guns. She said she’s worked her life as a probation officer. She asked “if this is the reward for my family and I we need to look at the direction our society it taking.”
She said the country is hard for everyone. She said it isn’t easy for her either as a pensioner.
“I have to face the grocery just like everyone else. It’s not easy I accept but we don’t have to go into crime,” she cried.
