Canadian shot in Dominican as he defended students
Family raises money to cover hospital care
WINNIPEG — A Canadian man was shot nine times and stomped by robbers while defending a group of Manitoba school students in the Dominican Republic, his family says.
The family is trying to raise money for Les Lehmann, who lives in the Dominican Republic and manages an apartment complex, through a website to cover his hospital bills.
Details of the incident, which occurred last month, have been posted at the website donatetoles.com.
The students were staying in the apartment complex while doing humanitarian work for an orphanage and school. None of them were hurt.
“Les is surprised to hear people calling him a hero — it was his natural reaction — a reflex to the threat that the humanitarian group might have been harmed,” the family says on the website.
The Franco-Manitoban School Division, which brought the school group home immediately after the incident, says the students had just arrived in the Dominican Republic the day of the attack.
Lehmann spent Jan. 30 welcoming the group and helping them settle in, the website says. But at 1 a.m., it says, he was awakened by a disturbance and got up to patrol the property.
He was startled by two thieves with guns drawn. He grabbed a machete while the thieves shot at him numerous times.
They backed him into the bedroom, where they stomped on his head and torso before eventually leaving him alone.
The family says Lehmann threw a hammer at them as they left. He then saw them breaking into the apartment, and he returned to his residence to find something else he could use for a weapon. He grabbed a baseball bat.
Surveillance video obtained by Dominican media and posted on the website shows what happened next. One of the armed men can be seen emerging from a doorway
Les’s main concern was that the humanitarian group remain safe
WEBSITE
and Lehmann surprises him from behind. Lehmann hits him repeatedly with the bat, knocking him to the ground and causing him to drop his gun.
But before Lehmann can grab the weapon from the dazed man, another gunman appears in the doorway and bright flashes are seen from the barrel of his gun.
Lehmann grabs the dropped weapon while the second man continues firing, but it appears Lehmann has been hit and he falls. He drops the gun and his blood can be seen pooling onto the tile.
The second gunman returns for the dropped gun, then grabs the collar of his companion who is still lying on the ground and drags him away.
For the remaining few minutes of the video, Lehmann rises to his hands and knees and takes off his shirt to use as a tourniquet for his arm. He tries to stand by using the baseball bat like a cane but he’s too weak and falls. After rolling onto his back, a dog, tail wagging, approaches and licks his hand.
“Les’s main concern was that the humanitarian group remain safe,” the website says. “Even after being shot several times and immobilized, Les made every attempt to check on the people in the unit and ultimately he dragged himself to the door to see that they were all out of harm’s way.”
The website says Lehmann spent four hours in emergency surgery. In addition to the bullet wounds and blood loss, his injuries included a broken knee and a broken arm. He is recovering but still requires more surgery and rehabilitation.
The family plans to bring him to a hospital in Canada.
The robbers have not been caught.