By INDARJIT SEURAJ Tuesday, September 29 2009

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CRIME SCENE: A crime scene officer gathers evidence at a pharmacy in Curepe where a policeman was shot yesterday. ...

A POLICE Constable assigned to the Court and Process Branch, was yesterday shot three times as he attempted to subdue gunmen during a daring robbery at a Curepe pharmacy. Up to late yesterday, PC Dave James was undergoing emergency surgery at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope, to remove a bullet lodged in his stomach.

The drama unfolded at about 1.30 pm at the Complete Care Pharmacy off the Eastern Main Road in Curepe, when James, a motorcyclist, who serves court subpoenas, parked his police motorcycle on the southern side of the Main Road and headed into the pharmacy on the northern side of the road.

Investigators believe that James might have heard of the robbery and tried to intercept the culprits.

But as he entered the yard of the pharmacy, the armed bandits who were inside the pharmacy, opened fire through the store’s plate-glass.

James who was shot in the stomach and sustained a broken arm after a bullet smashed through the bone, limped across the main road towards his motorcycle before collapsing.

A man who gave his name to Newsday only as “Hosais”, said he spotted the badly bleeding officer and recognised him.

“I knew that officer awhile now. He is a good officer. When he saw me, he said ‘my firearm fell...my firearm missing’,” Hosais said.

“When I looked at his holster, I realised the gun was not there so I ran across the road and saw it on the ground. There was blood on it. I picked it up and kept it until other police officers arrived,” he continued.

After shooting the officer, the three bandits completed their robbery of the pharmacy before escaping with an undisclosed sum of money.

They ran west along the main road before disappearing through a track off the main road at the side of the St Joseph river.

James was taken to hospital for emergency treatment.

The pharmacy where yesterday’s robbery and shooting took place is located mere walking distance from a doctor’s office where a little over a month ago, a policeman shot dead his estranged girlfriend (who worked as a clerk at the doctor’s office) before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.

Up to late yesterday, no arrests were made and officers of the St Joseph Police Station are investigating.