Conductor hit by robber’s bullet

It was a run of the mill Friday night hustle for van conductor Kelwyn Bute, until a masked gunman stuck a pistol to his stomach and pulled the trigger.{{more}}

On Friday, January 25th, at about 8 p.m., Bute became the latest victim of an all but new trend: the robbery of minivans.

Bute, also known as ‘Goofy’, recounted the near death experience while sliding the door of HR 74, driven by Dave May.

“There were 12 passengers in the van. When we get to Sion Hill, a guy stop the van and get in. As we drive off, he told me to pull up at Double Deuce shop, because somebody was getting in there.”

Bute said as the van pulled up at the now defunct business place some yards away, he opened the door and was passing change to one of the 13 passengers in the vehicle when a masked man came to the door and grabbed the money bag that was placed around the headrest of the front passenger seat.

“He grabbed the bag and me and he started fighting,” Bute recalled.

“When he see I was getting serious, that is when he pull out the gun and rest it on my belly.”

The gunman fired once, and as Bute fell back, he took off into the night with the bag containing over $300 and a cell phone.

Bute was rushed to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital where he received treatment and was discharged.

Luckily for Bute the bullet did not enter his abdomen, but left a gash on his stomach.

The Prospect resident believed that it was the end for him, the moment the gun went off. He said he is having second thoughts about continuing to work as a conductor.

“When I get hit my body run cold and my ears started ringing. I ain’t really scared but I think I should just rest up a while.”

The conductor of many years experience is calling for van conductors to be careful during their daily grind.

Over the past weeks, a number of passenger van robberies have been reported to the police.

When contacted, the police indicated that they were investigating the shooting and robbery incident.

Up to press time, no one had been apprehended in the matter.