A TAXI driver was rushed to a city hospital, around noon on Thursday after he was shot in his leg during a daring robbery outside the Jialing Motorcycles and Repair store at the corner of Oronoque and Charlotte streets, Georgetown.The taxi driver was at the time transporting Elda Belle, 41, of Crown Street, Queenstown who was robbed of a bag containing over $1 million, which, according to reports, she had only shortly withdrawn from Republic Bank.

It is alleged that two men apparently traced the duo to the store in a dark blue 212 motorcar and pounced on them outside the store. The thieves parked across the street from Jailing and then accosted Belle after she exited the vehicle. They shot the taxi driver and snatched the woman’s handbag, which contained the money and her licensed firearm. Other reports are that the bag may have also contained Belle’s cellphone.

A vigilant Queensway security guard, stationed at Jailing, observed the gunmen after they exited their vehicle. The guard who was standing just inside the business’ door recounted what he observed of the ordeal. According to him the entire ordeal took less than two minutes. “It happened really, really fast. I see he come out of a dark colour 212 with a gun, so I radioed, I call back up. I didn’t know he was robbing somebody out there, I thought he was coming in

here, that’s why I move from by the glass, and I went in the middle and radioed, but then all I hear was shot, shot. And a guy came in here clutching his foot and I saw blood coming down. After I take a peep outside I see a guy with a bag going back in the car,” the guard recounted.

The injured man was quickly whisked away to the hospital, while the police arrived shortly after and Belle remained to lodge an onsite police report. Speaking with the press on location soon after the robbery, Commander of ‘A’ Division, Clifton Hicken, said that the police had already begun working to obtain CCTV footage from businesses around that may have recorded the robbery.

So far the police have been able to obtain the license plate of the getaway vehicle, and was communicating with GRA to ascertain the registration of the vehicle. “The investigators are working at the crime scene there to ensure that we preserve all of the evidence. They’re trying to get footage from Jailing and we’re going to check all of the adjoining buildings CCTV, and we’re going to work as assiduously as we could to ensure that all of the perpetrators are brought to justice,” Hicken said.

“We are going to work with the services of the GRA to trace the number plate that we got from the vehicle, we’re going to do everything possible to ensure that we locate it.” He continued. Hicken said one war head was found in Jailing and one spent shell, a possibly .32, was also found by the investigators.