Ambush Risk Arriving at Your Business

Business owners are particularly vulnerable to targeted attacks at the moment of arrival or departure from their premises — when their location, timing, and behaviour are most predictable. An ambush at a business entrance requires no access to the building itself: perpetrators only need to know where the target works and when they typically appear. In a 2026 Sangre Grande incident, a businessman was shot by occupants of a vehicle parked on the roadway outside his business as he stepped out of his own car in the late afternoon. The window between exiting your vehicle and reaching your business entrance is one of the highest-risk moments of your working day.

Steps to follow:

• Vary the times you arrive at and depart from your business — a fixed, predictable routine gives anyone surveilling your premises the information they need to act on it.
• Before exiting your vehicle at your business, scan the immediate area: look for unfamiliar parked vehicles on the roadway, especially those with occupants who have no obvious reason to be waiting.
• If you notice a vehicle that has been stationary near your business for an unusual length of time with people inside, do not exit your vehicle — drive away, notify someone you trust, and do not return until the area has been checked.
• Brief trusted employees to monitor the exterior of the premises in the period before you are expected and to contact you immediately if anything appears unusual.
• Where possible, do not arrive or depart alone — having a staff member or trusted person present at the moment you move between your vehicle and the entrance reduces your exposure.
• If you have received threats, are involved in a serious dispute, or are aware of circumstances that could make you a target, inform the police and change your routine entirely until the situation has resolved.