PG money collector shot during armed robbery

Tonight the Punta Gorda community is still in shock following the violent armed robbery of a local man. Reports are that around seven last night, twenty-nine year old money collector Darwin Pate returned from delivering soft drinks and beer for P.G.’s Bowen and Bowen distributor, Arthur Johnson. Apparently around this time last year, an attack had been attempted on the same run so Johnson met the container truck outside of town and followed it to his offices at the corner of North and Main Street. But the vehicles got separated when Johnson pulled off to park so the delivery truck arrived first. Pate decided to wait for his boss on the street, but within minutes a lone gunman pulled up on the money collector and demanded his knapsack containing the day’s sales. Pate put up a fight, but his attacker fired a single shot which struck the collector under his right arm pit. As the bandits escaped, the victim was rushed to the P.G. hospital for treatment. Around nine a BATSUB medivac team attempted to airlift Pate to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital but his condition worsened. Overnight, the wounded man was transferred to Belmopan where he remains. According to family members, his prognosis is guarded. We understand that before undergoing treatment, Pate was able to describe his assailant to hospital employees and police. According to investigators in Punta Gorda, while only one man accosted Pate, they believe other men were involved in the armed robbery. Tonight three people from the area have been detained while a fourth man, believed to be from Belize City, is still being sought for questioning.