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Junction, St Elizabeth, resembled a scene from an action film yesterday as gunmen robbed a Ready Cash outlet.

"It come like a one movie ... dem man yah watch too much Money Heist. It really come like one of those shows weh people a rob bank ... me neva witness dem things here yet in a life," one woman who was on the scene told THE STAR.

It is reported that shortly after 2 p.m., three men entered the financial establishment and held a cashier and customers at gunpoint.

Rumours circulated online

The thugs then robbed the establishment of an unspecified sum of money. Rumours circulated online that the men were trapped inside the building and held hostages for more than three hours. But Senior Superintendent of Police, Stephanie Lindsay, head of the Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), said this was not the case.

"I know the initial report that was made to the police ... it did give the impression that it was a hostage situation and the robbers were in the building and people were in there, so that was the intitial response," she said. Lindsay said after an investigation was done, the police realised that the robbers had already fled the scene.

But before that confirmation came, various videos of the incident surfaced, showing police swarming the area.

"Throw out your weapon and surrender peacefully," a police officer could be heard shouting through a bull horn, after they responded to the scene. "Gentlemen in the building, the building is surrounded ... the building is surrounded by the police." The area was cordoned off and police could be seen crouched behind or over service vehicles. Onlookers even took to building tops to see the action unfold.

Lindsay said that she is not aware of the amount of money that was stolen or how many persons were in the building at the time of the incident.

"The police are now going back, speaking with persons ... eyewitnesses to verify how many persons were actually involved," she said.