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Robbery victim: 'I said to myself, Oh no, I am going to die'

A guest worker thought he was going to die when two men on a motorbike robbed him - wielding what appeared to be a gun.The man, who is from the Philippines, posted an 11-minute video on YouTube on Tuesday describing the ordeal. It has since been taken down.Last night he told The Royal Gazette he was one of several victims who were held up by two gun-wielding motorbike riders on Monday night.Speaking of the attack, which landed him in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, he said: “I said to myself, Oh no, I am going to die.”The incident took place at approximately 10.30pm on Montpelier Road, Devonshire. In the video he described how two men rode next to him and pointed what appeared to be a “very new, very nice” gun in his face.They forced him off the road, he said, and demanded his money.He described how one man struck him in the face with the butt of what appeared to be a gun. He believes the men left after they panicked when a car approached.The guest worker called for help although the first car he approached did not stop, he said. Police were called to the scene and they have since asked him to remove the video.The supermarket employee, who did not want to be named, told this paper he created the video because so many people had asked him to describe his experience.He believes his attackers were Bermudian and in their late teens or early 20s.While he was shaken by the incident, and has a bandage under his eye where he was hit by the attacker, he said: “I’m not holding any grudges. I feel bad about what happened, but I’m not angry, just disappointed that they were so young.“I know someone is influencing them to do these things. There’s good and bad, and I’m still hopeful that these kids will change their life from bad. The way they appeared so suddenly, I know it was just a random act. It could have been anyone.“Me and my friends were thinking after, this might have been like an initiation. The other person kept very quiet. He told me to give him money. I was almost on my knees by the road. I just thought they needed money.”He added that when he moved to the Island in 2009 he had done research and believed Bermuda was peaceful, with little violence.He added: “I still consider Bermuda paradise but now there is a fear and a trauma from this.”After contacting police and getting medical care the man returned to the scene of the incident to find his bike had been ticketed for not being in a parking bay.Earlier this week the Bermuda Police Service reported that a pair of men on a motorbike, who appeared to be wielding a gun, knocked “several” people off their bikes and robbed them on Monday evening.Last night a police spokesman said: “Officers are investigating these crimes where the victims were motorcycle riders and the suspects were also on a motorcycle, with one of the suspects brandishing what appeared to be a firearm.Arrests have been made in connection with these incidents and we are continuing to appeal for anyone with any information to contact the Hamilton Criminal Investigation Unit on 295-0011 or the independent, confidential Crime Stoppers Bermuda hotline on 800-8477.”In a separate incident on Tuesday night another victim said he was followed by a bike as he drove west along Harbour Road, Paget.The victim, who would not be named, said the bike pulled up next to him and pointed a gun at his head.The rider ordered him to pull over and proceeded to rob him. The victim was treated at the scene by paramedics and suffered bruises and scrapes as a result of the incident.Three people have been arrested in connection with this armed robbery.