A Sandys tavern was taped off yesterday after one of its customers was shot in the most recent fire arms incident.

According to a Police spokesman, the victim, a 44-year-old Sandys parish man was sped to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital to be treated for gunshot wounds, but his injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

A woman who was in the Charing Cross Tavern at the time of the shooting said that the customers ran for cover after shots were heard near the bar's porch. She said there were more than a dozen people when the shots rang out.

After hearing the gunshots, a neighbour ran to the scene, in time to watch the bleeding victim be pulled into a car to be taken to the hospital.

He said. "I ran out there and they were trying to hustle this guy into this car. He was shot big time. I saw two wounds in his chest, and it looked like he was bleeding from the right side of his head as well. He was a young guy. Late 20s, early 30s."

While he didn't see the shooting, he said he had been told the gunman had rode up to the bar on a bike and fired multiple shots before escaping.

He described the tavern as a popular nightspot, and said the staff have worked to make it a respectable bar.

"I fear what this will do to their business," he said.

Asked if he was afraid, he said: "These are our children doing this. How could you be frightened of your children?"

Investigators at the scene taped off the area behind the tavern and closed off part of Cambridge Road while they photographed the area.

Plastic cups were used to mark the positions of around a dozen shell casing in a parking lot near the entrance to the bar's porch.

While Police said they responded to the reported shooting at 5.10 p.m., the neighbour said that it was 20 minutes before the first officer arrived on the scene, and another 20 minutes before the area was cordoned off.

"I don't mean to bring them down, but the station is only a five-minute walk away. It's in their neighbourhood.

"No wonder they don't catch anybody. It takes them 40 minutes to get here? That's deep."

Responding to the criticism, the Police spokesman said that the investigation had just begun, and if there was a delay it would come out in time.

Anyone with information about the shooting are asked to contact the Police Serious Crime Unit at 299-8121 or the confidential Crime Stoppers hot line on 800-8477.