Peola Baptiste, the lone female security guard shot in Monday's murderous heist outside Pennywise Plaza in La Romaine, has been transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, having been shot multiple times in the chest, shoulder and abdomen.
Speaking to Guardian Media on Tuesday, daughter Makinni Wellington said Baptiste was conscious but was still in a critical condition.
"She is at Accident and Emergency at Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex since 5 am. She has not been warded as yet. She requires blood. She is O-positive," Makinni revealed.
Describing her mother's injuries, Makinni said:
"She is responsive, but she is still in a critical condition. She has internal bleeding and requires surgery. Apart from being shot in the chest, shoulder and abdomen, she was grazed on both sides of her face. On the right side, the cheekbone is fractured. She has swelling in her head and face."
Saying the robbery was clearly a set-up, Makinni said her mother had no time to respond as the gunmen pounced on them, firing instantly with automatic weapons.
"She was wearing her bulletproof vest. Due to the circumstance, they weren't able to respond. It is a standard procedure that they always have on their bulletproof vest. My mother was sitting in the back and the driver and other guy who died were sitting in the front," Makinni said.
Describing her mother as hardworking and loving, Makinni said:
"My mom is single with six children, and she is a workaholic because she knows she has to provide for her family. She is very loving and outgoing and tries her best to make ends meet at home."
In December, Baptiste would be 58 years old, and she was always committed to her job, having been in security for over 20 years.
"She had incidents before, and it is not the first time she felt uncomfortable. This is the first time it has reached so far," Makinni added.
Officers of Allied Security Services react with shock as they arrived at the crime scene at Pennywise Plaza in La Romaine, on Monday 19 September 2022. [Image by KRISTIAN DE SILVA]
The distraught daughter said Allied Security Services officials had not yet visited the family to offer personal condolences.
"It is very disturbing to us. One or two of her colleagues called but nobody from the higher end of the company has reached out," she added.
Makinni said before Monday's incident, her mother had expressed concern about part of the company’s operations.
"She always said they needed to change their timing and how they did deliveries and collected cash," she explained. Makinni said Allied operated with unarmoured vehicles, and this should change in the future.
"Allied needs to do better than that. Our families are risking their lives to work and their salaries are not huge. They out there risking their lives and Allied isn't giving much care to that," Makinni said.
She said although Baptiste is at the Mount Hope Hospital, anyone wanting to donate blood on her behalf can go to any of the Blood Banks and provide her name to donate.
Makinni said while justice was served instantly with the death of the four robbers, other accomplices still needed to be exposed.
On Monday, Allied security officers Jeffrey Peters and Jerry Stewart died after being ambushed and shot while conducting a cash-in-transit operation at Pennywise Plaza.
Peters died on the spot while Stewart died on his way to the hospital. Baptiste and another officer Allister Harris, 47, of Phoenix Protective Services, suffered gunshot wounds when a carload of armed robbers opened fire on their white Mitsubishi pickup and made off with a sum of cash.
The matter is under investigation.
