Bystander injured as cop shoots bandit in downtown Port of Spain

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

– File photo

Days after being shot after leaving work, Andrea Jeffrey says she is in extreme pain and is unsure if the bullet is still in her body.

“One minute, doctors say the bullet still in my breast, and I have soft tissue damage. Next, they’re saying the bullet exited, which is why my breast has two holes. I’m just confused, in pain and want to go home.”

On Thursday, a bandit was shot by an off-duty policeman he tried to rob. Reports say at around 5.25 pm, the officer, identified only as PC Edgar, was in standstill traffic in his red Nissan X-Trail on Charlotte Street near Yipp’s Variety Store when the bandit held a knife to Edgar’s neck and said, “Give me the chain, or I go kill yuh.”

The suspect snatched his gold chain and ran off.

Edgar got out of his car and chased after him, when the suspect attacked him with a knife. Using his police-issued gun, Edgar fired two shots, hitting the suspect in the stomach.

Jeffrey said she was walking down Charlotte and Prince Street when she felt a burning sensation in her left breast and felt something wet. She examined her breast and saw blood. Jeffrey said she fell to the floor and started to scream as she realised she had been shot.

A police vehicle passing by stopped and took her to the hospital. The suspect was also in the same vehicle.

On Friday, the mother of two told Newsday her blood pressure was too high for her to be sent home from hospital and described her ordeal as scary.

She said she had no ill will towards Edgar but would like an apology. The 33-year-old woman said she misses her daughters, ages six and ten.

Jeffery, a domestic worker, said she did not know how long she would be on leave, and the incident had left her shaken up.

“Shooting and this gun thing is not part of my lifestyle. I am a Christian woman.”

PC Ali and WPC George processed the scene and collected two 9mm spent shells and a yellow box cutter.

The suspect was still being held at the hospital under a police guard and no charges had been laid up to press time on Friday.