Armed robbery a traumatic experience
Sonia Wahl
"It's just another day, life carries on."
These were the words of Adrian Lúis (55), owner of Jonty's Liquor Store in Santaville, Graaff-Reinet, after he and a bystander were wounded in an attempted armed robbery. On Thursday 28 March, Lúis was leaving Jonty's after a hard day at work. He says that it was already dark, and three of his staff members were closing shop with him when an unidentified male approached him and held a gun against his head, demanding money.
Lúis says that at first, he thought it was a hoax and pushed the gun away. It was when the man pointed the gun at him again that he realised things might go horribly wrong.
Lúis has owned Jonty's for 23 years and says that the community supports him and cares for him. Lúis says that they usually close shop earlier, but that day they were extremely busy.
When the unidentified male and two of his accomplices approached him with a gun at about 18:58, Zulu, a man who cleans the area around the bottle store, came to his rescue. Small in stature, Zulu did not hesitate to assist Lúis when his life was in danger. Unfortunately, Zulu was shot in the stomach by the shooter when he started kicking and hitting the would-be robber with a broom. Lúis was shot in the flesh under his chin, and the bullet scraped his chest.
The shooter demanded money, but Lúis says that he had no cash on him. "When the shot went off, I was a bit disoriented and realised that another shot went off and that someone else also got shot. I noticed that the male was going to shoot again and made it to my car and drove off. I phoned my delivery worker to tell him that there were shots fired and asked him to take Zulu to the hospital.” When Lúis arrived at home, he became aware of severe bleeding from his face and was shocked when he looked at himself in the mirror. In the meantime, the driver phoned Lúis’ wife, who was driving home after work, to tell her about the incident. She phoned Lúis from her car and rushed home to take him to the Midlands Hospital in Graaff-Reinet. "Everything happened so fast. People usually ask why you didn't do this or that, but when you haven't gone through something like this, you have no idea how you are going to react; you are not entitled to give your opinion." Lúis says that the community was helpful and that they also started searching for the accomplices when they heard the news.
He has arranged for the three staff members who witnessed the whole incident to be counselled on Thursday, as they are not coping with the traumatic incident.
"This armed robbery was the first incident of this nature at Jonty's," he says. After receiving information from the community, the police managed to arrest one of the men and another one handed himself over at the bottle store on Saturday, resulting in his arrest.
Ward 4 Councillor Joy Williams says that she is extremely worried about the crime stats and the well-being of the ward. "People who know anything about this incident must please phone the police or contact me directly," says Williams.
For now, Lúis says that he is not going to go for counselling but feels terrible for his three staff members, especially the female worker. "I really hope that they catch the shooter and retrieve the weapon before this happens to someone else," he says. He says that the entire incident is so surreal that he pushed it aside and started working on Saturday again. "I have 19 staff members that count on me, 19 families that are relying on the liquor store's well-being."
Zulu still remains in hospital, and his condition could not be ascertained as the telephone lines of the Eastern Cape Department of Health are out of order.
Col Priscilla Naidu, communication officer for the police, says that GraafReinet Detectives are investigating a case of attempted murder and robbery following a robbery at Jonty's Bottle Store in Santaville, Graaff-Reinet.
Police are urging anyone who can assist in tracing the suspect to contact Detective WO Marais on 082 301 8672.
“When the shot went off, I was a bit disoriented and realised that another shot went off and that someone else also got shot.”