Last night a Chinese businessman was shot in the face, but miraculously he survived. It’s the kind of attack we hear about all too often in the news, but this one didn’t happen in the city; it happened in Sandhill. Villagers told us that they believe criminals came to prey on their quiet community. Jacqueline Godwin reports.
Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
Last night at around 8:00, two brazen unmasked armed men stormed into this gas station at mile sixteen and half on the northern highway. They didn’t steal anything, but they did open fire on the proprietor and a patron who was sitting inside. What we do know is that this security camera captured the armed assault and the tape is now in the hands of the police. It was witnessed by several individuals but only one agreed to speak to us off camera.
Voice of Witness,
“Well I just see the two guys came from out of the car and they went straight in and so I told my partner it looks like this is a jack or something like that. So in a minute or two I heard shots start to ring out and I saw the guys running out back. So when I heard, one of my partners got shot and the chiney man got shot and the car just took off. They didn’t really get anything so I don’t know why they shoot the guy.
They went inside and ordered I heard two bottles of Campari. So when the chiney man went to get the campari, that’s when the guy pull the gun on the chiney man.”
Sandhill Police did not have much to say about the incident only that the business owner identified as fifty six year old Bow Tang Wang received an injury to his right upper eye and the customer identified as Calbert Flowers was struck in both hands.
Voice of Witness,
“About three or four kids were in there. I heard the gunman put the
gun on one of the guys on the ground and the father tried to assist and that’s why the gunman opened fire on the kid’s father.”
Thomas Card, Chairman - Sandhill Village
“That’s the only gas station between Ladyville and Orange Walk and if we should lose a business like that it will hurt the community.”
Equally concerning is that the villagers of Sandhill strongly believe that the young men who committed last night’s holdup and shooting are the same individuals who robbed a nearby establishment just last week.
Voice of Witness,
“It is the same vehicle that came and robbed the chiney and robbed the bar down the road.”
Thomas Card,
“I was surprised for something like that to happen in our village because Sandhill is a very peaceful village. We have about two to three police in the village now who I normally see patrolling the village and at a gas station there is always people hanging out so it was a surprise to me.”
Chairman of Sandhill Thomas Card was not in the village at the time and only heard about the attack this morning. He believes the gunmen are not from the area.
Thomas Card,
“No I do not think so. As I said, Sandhill is a peaceful community. The villagers are always looking out for one another. At the gas station there are guys who hang out there everyday so if anything happens, someone would know from the village; I would think so. As far as I am the Chairman for the past two years, we haven’t had much incidents in Sandhill, criminal incidents.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
So as a result of last night’s incident you don’t feel that security needs to be heightened, the police need to be doing more patrol in your village?
Thomas Card,
“Well the village is expanding every day so there is always room for more police patrol. But as I said, the community is everybody works with one another so something like this, I believe at the end of the day we will find out. If it is somebody from Sandhill we will know at the end of the day.”
But for the moment there are no suspects. Jacqueline Godwin reporting for 7News.
Investigators are reviewing the surveillance video and the police declined a request to release it to the media. A Police report that came after we finished up our story puts the time of the robbery closer to 7:00 pm. Importantly it states that Bow Tang Wang’s 29 year old daughter Jin Wang ran for a shotgun at the back of the store when the gunmen arrived. But by the time she came back to the front, her father had been shot in the eye while Calbert Flowers had been shot to both arms, and Andrew Baptist was grazed on the back. They are both reported in stable condition.
