A would-be armed robber is dead after a violent exchange of gunfire with responding law enforcement during an attempted supermarket robbery in Georgetown, Guyana, late Wednesday, local police confirmed in an official statement updated Thursday. The incident unfolded shortly before 9 p.m. on Mandela Avenue, where three male suspects had already taken two unarmed security guards hostage at gunpoint, forcing the guards to the ground, when an off-patrol police officer stumbled upon the ongoing crime.
When the uniformed officer stepped in to halt the robbery, one of the three suspects immediately opened fire in the officer’s direction, according to details released by the Guyana Police Force. In self-defense and to stop the armed attacker, the officer returned fire using his issued service weapon. Following the shootout, the two unhit suspects fled the scene in separate directions, while the gun-wielding suspect who had shot at the officer collapsed into a roadside drain adjacent to the supermarket.
Law enforcement personnel who responded to the scene recovered a .38 caliber revolver from the suspect, along with three remaining live ammunition rounds and multiple spent bullet casings. Emergency medical personnel and an on-duty doctor were called to the site, where the suspect was examined and officially pronounced dead. The remaining two suspects remain at large as of Thursday’s update, with a manhunt currently underway to locate and apprehend them. Local authorities have not released the identity of the deceased suspect pending notification of next of kin.