Gunmen attack, rob Internet cafe

Guyana Chronicle
January 29, 2003

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THREE armed bandits yesterday morning attacked and robbed the Sophia Wireless Internet Café on Dennis Street, Sophia, Georgetown.

The proprietor said the gunmen fled with about $100,000 in cash, eight cellular phones and a quantity of phone cards.

The attack took place at about 08:45 hrs.

According to the owner, there was a hail of gunfire before the men entered the building.

No one was reported injured.

The three, the youngest looking like a teenager, demanded cash at gunpoint. The proprietor said the two other bandits appeared to be in their 20s.

"One a them walk up to me and push a gun in me face and said `Give we every thing you got!", he recalled.

He said a bullet was fired in the building and pierced the ceiling.

He said they stole his wristwatch and wallet, which contained US$170 and about G$4,000.

The other set of cash was removed from a secluded area in the building after it was ransacked by one of the men, the owner said.

He said there were about eight customers in the building when the bandits entered.

Some were on the phone while others were waiting to make calls, he related.

The gunmen upon entering instructed that everyone in the building take the floor and lie face downwards and they all complied, he said.

The proprietor related that one of the customers had his three-year-old son with him during the attack, and while he had complied with the gunmen's instructions the little boy got up and ran out of the building.

He said that while everyone was on the floor, one of the bandits ransacked the building and took away the money and the items.

As that was happening one of the men put his gun at an ear of the proprietor threatening to kill him.

He said the third gunman, who was keeping guard at the door of the building, was armed with a sawn-off shotgun and was looking at him with a smile.

The proprietor said the men left the building quietly as though they were customers.

He said that after they had left he dialled the numbers of the activated cell phones which the men had stolen and they answered in a "very friendly" manner.

Customers shocked by the ordeal quickly left the building, some without completing their transactions, he said.

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