Bar owner shoots 3 bandits, one dies

The dead man has been identified as 23-year-old Richard Olivierre, of Valencia, while the names of his two other accomplices have not been released but they are a 23-year-old from D’Abadie and a 26 year-old from Valencia.

According to police, at about 6.30 pm three men, one armed with a pistol, got out from a silver Lancer, entered the Kool Breeze Bar in Paramin and announced a hold-up, ordering everyone on the ground. One of the bandits made his way to the roulette room at the rear of the establishment.

According to a relative of the proprietor, he drew his firearm and shot the two bandits in the main bar area and then they ran out of the bar. He then exchanged fire with the third in the roulette room and then the third bandit escaped.

According to police sources, however, the proprietor refused to hand over any valuables and the bandits became enraged and then the shootout occurred with the proprietor shooting and injuring all three. A bar patron was shot in the leg as the three bandits attempted to flee the scene empty-handed.

The proprietor then used his cellphone and alerted Paramin villagers who placed a concrete slab across the roadway; there is only way in and one way out of Paramin.

A villager spotted the suspect’s vehicle. The car reportedly crashed into a barrier, causing the car to explode in flames.

There were reports that a single shot was fired at the engine of the car which prompted the car to burst into flames but patrons report that there was no shooting outside the establishment.

According to patrons, the injured bandit who sat in the driver’s seat attempted to turn the car but slumped over and crashed into the barrier. With his foot on the gas but the car not moving the vehicle burst into flames.

As the fire raged, two of the three suspects managed to run out of the vehicle. However, the third suspect, Olivierre, was pulled out of the car by residents but had died already from gunshot wounds.

Police were called to the scene and found one of the suspects in bushes with the pistol. The second admitted himself to the Port-of- Spain General Hospital and was held there by police.

According to police, both men were currently hospitalised with gunshot wounds, one of the men critical and the second in a stable condition.

The body of Olivierre was viewed by a DMO and the charred remains were ordered removed to the Forensic Sciences Centre, St James together with the vehicle.

The proprietor of the bar said yesterday he was too shaken up to speak about the incident but Paramin villagers said that under no condition would they allow outsiders to come into the community and commit crimes against any of the villagers.

When Sunday Newsday visited Kool Breeze bar yesterday afternoon it was business as usual with patrons drinking and sitting and chatting. The burnt remains of the car on the street and the broken glass leading to the roulette room were the only signs of the incident. Patrons reported that, to their knowledge, the bar had not been robbed in the past and that Paramin is a close knit community.

The relative said the proprietor had no remorse for shooting the bandits and that he would “do it again”. The also relative called on the State to give citizens guns.

“Give us guns, let us help the police,” the relative pleaded.

Corporal Hunte and Constable Joseph of the Maraval CID are continuing investigations.