Crime sleuths are probing a deadly confrontation that left a 34-year-old Cuban national dead yesterday morning at the Real Value Supermarket on Thomas and Church Streets.
The victim, identified as Pedro Alexander Frometa Slonchak, was pronounced dead after what police described as a violent altercation with a security guard on duty.
Investigators say the incident unfolded around 9:47 a.m., when the suspect, 25-year-old Kelvin Belgrave of Sophia, was working at the supermarket. Belgrave, employed by KGM Security Service, told police he became suspicious after noticing Slonchak repeatedly entering and exiting the store.
According to police, Belgrave approached the man to ask if something was wrong. What followed was a tense and chaotic struggle. The guard claims Slonchak was armed with a knife and grabbed onto him, sparking a scuffle. Belgrave said he managed to wrest the knife away and stabbed the man twice—once in the shoulder and once in the head—before drawing his service pistol.
Police reports state that Belgrave then fired six shots, four of which struck Slonchak in the chest, abdomen, and knee. Slonchak collapsed on the supermarket floor as shocked shoppers looked on. Emergency responders later confirmed he had died from his injuries.
Belgrave was taken into custody shortly after the incident and is assisting police with their investigation.
