A FAMILY in Blair Estates has been left traumatised and angry after being held at gunpoint in their home yesterday afternoon.
A mother and her two daughters, aged nine and four, along with a family friend also aged nine, arrived home after the school run around 3:45pm when they were confronted by a man wielding a gun.
In addition to being left shaken by the hold-up, the family is angry that it took numerous calls to get through to the emergency number 919 and almost an hour for police to finally respond.
The mother had just taken the three children into the house and had returned to the car to collect their bags when a man held a gun to her head.
The gunman, who was not wearing a mask or any other disguise, ordered the mother back into the house, where he forced the family to lie face down on the floor.
Speaking with The Big T yesterday was the family’s father, who was at work when the incident occurred.
“(The gunman) started cursing and screaming at my wife and the kids, demanding to know where the money and the jewellery was,” the father said.
“My wife told him we didn’t have any in the house, which is true, so he took her at gunpoint into the bedroom. My wife didn’t know what to expect at this point. He kept asking, ‘where is your husband, when is he coming home?’”
The man searched the bedroom for valuables as he kept the gun trained on the mother. He then returned to the home’s living room area from which he then took a computer, a television and other items before leaving the house.
As soon as he left, the mother locked herself and the children in the bedroom, fearful that the armed robber would return. She then proceeded to call 919 and her husband, but could only reach the latter.
“My wife called 919 several times and couldn’t get through. I called 919 and couldn’t get anyone. About five to six people were calling on our behalf and had no luck. When we finally got through to 919 about 10 minutes later, the person on the other end said he didn’t know where Blair Estates was so he didn’t know if he could send a police car there. Which is just ridiculous,” said the father.
“When police finally showed up – this was 50 minutes later – they didn’t have any lights on, no sirens. There were two officers in the car, but only one got out and came to the door. Then he told us that he couldn’t really help us and that we had to go to Wulff Road Police Station to file a report. They didn’t even take any fingerprints or secure the area or anything. This was my family, having just lived through a very traumatic experience and police couldn’t do anything for us.”
At press time last night, the family was on their way to the Wulff Road Police Station to file an official report.
• Read The Tribune on Monday for an update to this story.
Comments
ChefSmith 12 years, 1 month ago
This is not an unfamilar story .............its as if the police are waiting for people to die first then respond. I had a two situation last year , where i witness incidents and call the police , and it was as if i was a bother or calling someones household. in one case it was where i watch 3 boys broke into someones house , with my neigbhour acting as the look out . I was un able to speak up loud ...........which i indicated went i first started the conversation on the phone , due to the fact the a guy was standing right outside my window .....plus it was late in the night , and when the place is silent everyone can hear what you are saying if you are not careful. But what was even more disturbing was that when the police arrived 2 hour later , they didnt even come out the car , but shine a light on the building from inside the car then speed off . I then call the 911 number back , to ask what was that . They return 1 hour later and was asking me on the phone if i could come outside to speak to the police ...........i had to tell them that this most be some big joke or they trying to get me killed. The second incident was that i was driving along Minnie Street , off Wulf road where i say a guy running behind a guy with a hand gun. I tried to call the 911 number several times before success , then the operator ask me after half an hour if i was still in the area , and can i still see the guy. We need professionals to answer the phones , plus police ought to be in more focus areas , so as to minimize the responses time. Police officers are smart and know who are the trouble makers , but yet you often see them putting on a show sometimes , just to show the crowd who is in charge. If you are driving along the road on any given day throught certian corners of Nassau , you will say to yourself "how can the cops not see this , if i am seeing it " Get serious on these neighbour hood tugs , and hot spots , not just when some on is killed , but all the time.
bahalatin 12 years, 1 month ago
I once witnessed 2 individuals breaking into cars in my neighborhood, so I called the police and told them where they were and how they were dressed. Of course, they never showed up, so I called again. About 30 mins later one car arrived, a policeman got out of the car and talked to the look out for about 20 seconds while the other hid in a near by laundromat. They then left. Again, the 2 individuals went back to what they were doing, so I called again. The person at the other end of the line asked me how I knew these individuals were up to no good and I told them, I live upstairs I can see the whole area pretty well. THAT was a dumb thing to do, the police then came again, went into the laundromat, retrieved the thief and, my house being the only 2 story building in the area, brought the thief practically to my front door to let me know they had caught him. Seriously?! Now I gotta be looking over my back thanks to our superb police work.
ChefSmith 12 years, 1 month ago
Wow>>>>>>>>>> it is so unfortunate ..............no wonder they gets no help !
proudloudandfnm 12 years, 1 month ago
Yet we can't own guns. Wer are forced to rely on one of the worst police forces on earth and if we get a gun to protect ourselves we go to jail....
Time for us to wake up, time to get real. If the police refuse to protect us then we have no choice but to do it ourselves. So if you ever get on a jury where a good citizen owns a gun? LET THEM GO FREE!!
bookiedread 12 years, 1 month ago
This is really unfortunate. But the reality is that the CID units at the various stations throughout New Providence have all been closed down and the police nor the government has said anything about it. I know usually the CID unit from the Wulff Road Station would deal with matters in their area, which would be Blair. We always take two steps back.
jemma 12 years, 1 month ago
This story could have been told 20 years ago and today our police stations are still not equipped. They still do things today like they did 20years ago.
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