Six armed bandits staged a daring attack on a businessman and his family in an attempted robbery at their Number 69 Village, Corentyne Berbice home just after midnight on Sunday.
The bandits were unable to steal anything after the businessman, Gurdial Ballram opened fire on them and shot one of the culprits in the process.
The bandits shattered a glass window at the back verandah and then used a sledgehammer to break through a concrete wall to gain access into the home.
Upon entering the house, the men started to fire indiscriminately; bullet holes are visible in the walls, bedroom, bathroom and a chair.
Ballram, a father of three, who is in the transportation business and also a money changer and a rice farmer, told the News Room that he was awoken by the loud noise of the window shattering.
He got out of bed and realized that the bandits were breaking the concrete wall and so he went for his licensed firearm and waited on them to get inside the house.
Ballram told the News Room that the bandits began to fire as soon as they entered the house and so he returned fire after which they escaped.
Bloodstains were evident on the floor in the house and by the area where the wall was broken.
Meanwhile, Ballram said he had to protect his family in every possible way, as the incident brought back memories of five years ago when bandits attacked and shot his then 16-year-old son in the back. The young man is now paralyzed as a result of that robbery.
The businessman expressed dissatisfaction that calls to the Springlands Police Station went unanswered.
He explained that after several attempts to contact the Police via telephone proved futile, a friend drove to the Police Station to alert them of the robbery.
When the Police arrived, they told the family that the phone has been down for about two weeks and that it is GTT’s fault.
The businessman said the ordeal lasted for about twenty minutes and had the Police responded in a timely manner, they would have caught the bandits in action.
In light of the incident, the businessman is callin
g on the relevant authorities to approve his shotgun license.
He noted within the last eight years, he applied twice and did not receive a response.
The businessman argued that a small handgun is not enough to defend when bandits attack with high-powered weapons.
At the time of the incident, the man’s wife, two daughters and an eleven-year-old boy had to seek refuge in the bedroom as gunshots rained in the house.
The family is in a traumatized state.
