BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Two suspects have been detained in a weekend shooting attack on a British couple who were wounded and robbed by gunmen as they visited Barbados on a cruise ship, police said Tuesday.
Inspector David Welch of the Royal Barbados Police Force said the two suspects were being interviewed on Tuesday. The suspects, one man in his 20s and another in his 30s, have not been charged with anything.
"We believe we will be very successful in investigating this crime," Welch said during a phone interview.
The British couple were shot and wounded in broad daylight during a Sunday port call to Barbados. They were on an 85-day world trip on the British P&O Cruises' Adonia ship, according to company spokeswoman Jennifer Humm.
Welch identified the wounded tourists as Philip and Ann Prior. The married couple is from a British village in Suffolk. It was not clear if they struggled with their attackers.
The woman was shot in her right thigh and was released Monday. The man was shot on the left side of his pelvis and is expected to be released from a hospital Tuesday, according to Welch.
"He's in very good spirits," Welch said.
In Barbados, a country known as "Little England" for its cultural connections to its former colonial ruler, crime rates are relatively low and usually involve petty theft. But there have been cases of armed robberies and sexual assaults against tourists.
The Barbados Tourism Authority did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment about the Sunday shooting.
But Welch said tourism-dependent Barbados is "still a very safe and secure place."
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