A CHINESE supermarket owner was shot Tuesday night after four masked men, three of whom were armed with handguns, invaded his supermarket on the Melanie Public Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on and carted of $1.4M and other items.

The bandits had relieved the security guard on duty of his handgun before the 48-year-old Chinese man, Zhi Shan Lim, was shot.
The robbers also carted off the DVR with CCTV footage of the robbery, one Samsung S8 cellphone and a quantity of Digicel phone cards.

Reports indicate that the supermarket is located on the lower flat of a two-flat wooden and concrete structure and on the aforementioned day along with the proprietor, there were five other staff members, all Chinese.

The police said one of the suspects entered the supermarket and purchased two beers; he then returned outside and called the three other suspects to enter.

While in the supermarket one of the men accosted the security guard, a 21-year-old male of Bachelors Adventure, ECD, who was armed with a 12-gauge, single-barrel shotgun and five live rounds; the man relieved the guard of the shotgun.

The other suspects simultaneously held the victim and the other staff at gun- point. One of the suspects then dealt Zhi Lu Lin a lash to the left side of his head,thereby causing injuries, while another suspect shot him in the lower left leg.

The robbers then removed the “booty” and escaped with the DVR. The building was checked and the area searched, but none of the suspects was found.

Several persons in the area were questioned and a driver reported that he saw the four masked men, one of whom was armed with a shotgun. He added that as he looked in their direction, one of the men fired a shot at him, but he took evasive action and there was no injury or damage to his vehicle.

He then drove to the Vigilance Police Station and reported what had occurred.

The security guard was arrested and placed in custody and is assisting with the investigation.