[UPDATED] Princes Town man killed during botched bar robbery

A suspected armed bandit shot dead during a botched bar robbery on Tuesday night has been identified as Kerdell Cooper of Fairfield Estate Trace, Petite Café Road, Princes Town.

Investigators said at about 9.15 pm on Tuesday, two men accosted a group of men at Tara De Rosette at Contention Road, Indian Walk, near Princes Town, demanding cash. The bandits shot at the owner, who was talking to a group that came to visit him at the front of the bar. The bandits took two of the men from the group, using them as human shields, and walked further into the bar. Fearful for their lives, someone from the group fired two shots at the bandits with his licensed firearm. One of the bandits, later identified as Cooper, was struck and collapsed where he died. His accomplice ran off empty-handed. Apart from Cooper, no one else was struck.

Initially, it was believed that the owner had opened fire on the unidentified man. But when Newsday visited, a relative clarified that the owner did not open fire.

“It was not the owner who shot him. People came to visit him, and he was outside talking to them when it happened. They shot at him (owner),” said a relative who did not want to be identified. Princes Town police were contacted and police recovered a gun next to the man’s body.

Cooper’s relatives declined to speak to the media.