Guardforce security guard suspended after leaving shotgun in Hong Kong KFC outlet
Employee only found out about the mishap four hours after the visit; gun was recovered in manager’s office
PUBLISHED : Monday, 25 January, 2016, 8:00pm
UPDATED : Monday, 25 January, 2016, 8:20pm
Clifford Lo
[email protected]
Police stand guard in the KFC outlet in Panda Place where the shotgun was left. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A cash-delivery security guard was suspended from duty yesterday after he left a fully loaded Remington shotgun at a fast food outlet in Tsuen Wan on Sunday.
This came to light at about 5am yesterday after the guard working for security firm Guardforce made a fruitless search and then sought help from his supervisor.
Initial investigations showed he left the shotgun in the KFC outlet in Panda Place on Tsuen Wah Street after collecting money, according to police.
“Security camera footage showed that two guards – one carrying a cash box and the other the Remington – entered the shop at 6.37pm on Sunday,” a source with knowledge of the investigation said.
“But the guard who arrived with the shotgun did not carry the firearm when he left the store seven minutes later.”
It is understood the guard found the gun missing at about 11pm and sought help from his supervisor in the early hours of yesterday after he made a fruitless search for the weapon. The security firm called police at 5am.
A police spokesman said police later went to the KFC store and recovered the shotgun.
“Initial investigations showed the Remington shotgun loaded with four bullets was not left in a public area,” the source said. “Police retrieved it inside the manager’s room.”
According to police, officers seized the shotgun for investigation and initially found nothing suspicious.
A Guardforce spokeswoman said it was inappropriate to comment as the case had been passed to the police.
She said the staff member involved failed to follow guidelines over the safekeeping and use of a firearm and was suspended from duty.
“It is an individual incident,” she said, adding that there were strict rules for staff.
On February 8 last year, a G4S guard left a Remington shotgun beside an automatic teller machine in Shek Kip Mei.
On Christmas Eve 2014, more than HK$15 million went missing after a G4S cash delivery van’s door slid open, spilling large bundles of money over busy Gloucester Road in Wan Chai, sparking a cash-grab frenzy. More than HK$7 million remains missing.
