Beryllium Limited has confirmed that one of its vehicles and the assigned crew members came under heavy gun attack at Scotiabank’s Cookson Pen Branch in Portmore, St Catherine on Sunday.
In a statement on Sunday evening, the company said the driver of the vehicle and three other crew members were all shot and injured in the attack.
The company advised that it is cooperating with the police in ongoing investigations of the matter.
“Our sincere thoughts and prayers are with the crew and their families at this time,” said Beryllium.
“For the safety of our clients and our teams, Beryllium is currently assessing its operations island-wide, which may result in delays in the delivery of services,” it advised.
While the company made no mention of it in the statement, an informed source indicated that over $23 million in cash was taken by the attackers on Sunday.
On February 27 this year, gunmen similarly attacked a Beryllium team that was about to deliver money at an automated teller machine (ATM) at almost the same location of Sunday’s incident. On that occasion, at least two members of the three-member crew were shot and injured, one fatally, and over $10 million in cash was taken by the attackers, who escaped from the scene.
After Sunday’s attack, the police recovered two motorcars that were reportedly used by the gunmen who were involved in the dramatic shooting incident. The cars were found abandoned in the Lakes Pen area of the parish.
Several videos of the incident have been circulating on social media, with an intense shootout scene between members of the security team and the gunmen.
In one of the videos, a member of the security team appeared to have been shot and injured.
The armoured car was also seen being used to take evasive action as the two groups traded bullets.
Beryllium Limited is Jamaica’s leading company in the area of high-risk finance transfer processes, including cash-in-transit and support services and technology.