Bury St Edmunds: Suffolk police offer reassurance to the public after two gun incidents on the same day
Hardwick Convenience Store & Off Licence which was the scene of the armed robbery - Credit: Archant
Police have moved to reassure people living in Bury St Edmunds after two “extremely rare” gun incidents.
The first took place at around 5pm on Monday in Lake Avenue when two men reported having a weapon pointed at them through a car window by another man.
The pair ran into a post office asking for help. A gun was later recovered from the grounds of a hotel in Mildenhall Road.
Later the same day at 10.15pm an off license owner was robbed at gun point by a man who made off with the till from his Home Farm Lane store.
Thamalingan Thirunaran had to duck for cover before chasing his attacker down the street, who got away with a three-figure sum.
Detective Inspector Andrew Smethurst from Bury St Edmunds CID said: “These were two unrelated incidents the like of which are extremely rare in Bury.
“Individually they would cause concern for local residents, but with them both occurring on the same day I appreciate that they are likely to create additional alarm.
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“I would like to reassure residents that our detectives are following up some strong leads in relation to both offences and yesterday arrested a man on suspicion of robbery in relation to the incident at the store in Home Farm Lane and on Monday evening seized a firearm and arrested three people in connection with the incident in Lake Avenue.
“We continue to appeal for witnesses to either of these incidents and urge anyone who believes they have information in relation to them to come forward as they could assist the investigations.”
Two men in their 20s and a 16-year-old boy were questioned at Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre in connection with the Lake Avenue incident and have been bailed until October 29.
A 37-year-old from Haverhill was arrested on suspicion of robbery in connection with the Home Farm Lane incident.
Anyone with information about either crime should call Bury CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
