kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
When an armed bandit kicked down the bedroom door where a Ste Madeleine businessman and his wife slept, he did not hesitate to protect his family and fatally shot the invader.
The 64-year-old supermarket owner, who will not be identified for his safety, told Guardian Media that while he was sorry for the death of 18-year-old Jodel Roach of Beetham Gardens, Port-of-Spain, he had little option but to shoot.
His three children were all cowering in their bedroom under the eyes of three other bandits who entered his home in St Clement around 2.30 am yesterday.
The businessman and his family were asleep when six men climbed over the gate and the inner wall. There they turned the security camera and four of them used a 20-foot aluminium ladder to get up to his kitchen. Using a crowbar, they pried open the window and entered. They went to his children’s bedroom and forced them to lay on the ground as they rummaged through the house. His youngest son, who was awakened by the bandits entering the kitchen, was struck in his head with the gun. Their mother heard the commotion and told their father “bandits in the house.” The businessman said his first instinct was to grab his gun and try to defend his family.
“I was rudely awakened by a bandit who kicked down the entrance door to my bedroom and there was this tall guy who came in there with a gun. I had no other choice but to pull my licensed firearm to defend myself, my wife who was in the room with me and also my three children who were in the other rooms with bandits who had them on the ground,” the businessman said.
With a shot to the centre of his forehead, Roach fell to the floor with his pistol lying next to him.
The businessmen said they were able to escape with his mother’s two watches, his daughter’s cell phone and two watches and other items. The ladder remained at the house and latex gloves that they bandits used were thrown along a side street. His youngest son was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where he was treated for the blow to his head and was discharged.
Southern Division police responded, but by the time they arrived, the suspect was already dead.
The invasion occurred 12 hours after a bandit was shot dead during a robbery in Couva. It was the second fight back within hours as a security guard fatally shot and wounded another bandit who attempted to rob Savi’s Classic Jewelry on Monday.
