10-y-o shot in MoBay crossfire battling for life
Published:Friday | October 8, 2021 | 12:11 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The 10-year-old girl who was shot in the head as gangsters unleashed deadly gunfire in downtown Montego Bay on Wednesday afternoon is reportedly battling for life at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH).
The child and her mother were among five bystanders who were hit with bullets as gangsters in a speeding car chased and killed three men and injured two others who had departed a funeral.
The deceased have been identified as 27-year-old Leon Brown, bartender, of Williams Street, Montego Bay; 20-year-old Rashard ‘Black Man’ Watson, unemployed of Lime Tree Lane, Glendevon; and 18-year-old Robert ‘Ten Ten’ Headley, unemployed of King Street in Montego Bay.
According to a well-placed source at the CRH, the bullet, which is believed to have been fired from a rifle, struck the child at an angle that may result in significant damage. The source, who confirmed that the child has undergone surgery, was not able to say if she had regained consciousness.
Shortly after 2 p.m., Watson, Brown, Headley, a 22-year-old man, and a 29-year-old woman were travelling back to Montego Bay in a black Toyota Mark X motor car in St James when they noticed a white Toyota Crown motor car trailing them.
The driver of the Mark X tried to elude the other car by turning on Cottage Road in downtown Montego Bay when the occupants of the chasing vehicle began firing at them with high-powered weapons.
The Mark X, which crashed into a white Nissan AD Wagon taxi, careened into the wall of a supermarket at the four-way intersection at McCatty Street, Cornaldi Avenue, and Hart Street.
Police investigators told The Gleaner that the shooting was gang related and that the killers were suspected of being members of Gym Team, which features members from Orange Street and King Street in downtown Montego Bay, and Glendevon.
“These men are gangsters who are fighting for turf control, and they have now taken their war to the streets, resulting in a number of persons being seriously injured,” said the police officer.
Some of the gangsters’ relatives have fled their communities.
“We are carrying out a number of operations to have some of these men picked up. We have learned that a number of them have already fled the community,” the lawman added.