On Saturday night around 8:00, two men attempted to rob Joe’s Supermarket on 16th Street in the King’s Park area of Belize City. But, it turned to be a foiled robbery and an epic fail, because the owner Joe Wong saved his store by standing up to the gunman. Sahar Vasquez found out how his sharp eyes may have saved his life.  

On Saturday night Joe Wong sat in his chair behind the checkout counter waiting for customers to arrive as he usually does, until he spotted something strange. As he did, he sent a child who was with him inside.  

Two men were outside his store were acting suspiciously. Wong’s alertness may have saved his life. 

One man entered first and pretended to be asking about a product, then the second man barged in with his gun pointed at Wong.  It looked like a textbook robbery, but this story has a different ending. Wong was neither shot nor robbed; in fact he came out the victor with his fearless heroics.

Sahar Vasquez

“How did you know they were up to something?â€￾

Joe Wong - Owner of Joes Shop

“Before he came I saw his hand in his back pocket.â€￾

Sahar Vasquez

“So the first guy came in and asked you for something?â€￾

Joe Wong

“Yes he asked where the water was.â€￾

Sahar Vasquez

“Ok and then the next guy came in and pulled out the gun. Where were you when he pulled out the gun?â€￾

Joe Wong

“I stood up in the corner.â€￾

Sahar Vasquez

“Ok, and where was your gun?â€￾

Joe Wong

“I have it on my side.â€￾

Sahar Vasquez

“On your side. Ok, so when you saw him pull out his gun you pulled out your gun?â€￾

Joe Wong

“No, I started to move first.â€￾ 

Sahar Vasquez

“And then you pulled out your gun.â€￾

Joe Wong

“Yup.â€￾

Sahar Vasquez

“And you fired how many shots?â€￾

Joe Wong

“2 shots.â€￾

Sahar Vasquez

“So when you shot the gun what happened?â€￾

Joe Wong

“I saw the gun and the two boys ran.â€￾

It seems the last thing the assailants were expecting was for Wong to pull out a gun and when he did the one holding the gun was so shocked and frightened he dropped his weapon and they both ran for their lives. The surveillance footage along with the gun made capturing these inexperienced criminals quite easily. 

No one was injured. Police continue to look for the other suspect. And while it may sound like a happy ending, we note that area residents who have long had an issue with this store owner - complain that he fired out into the street when the robbers were already gone.