Six-Year-Old Recovering From Gunshot Injuries

Six-year-old Julia was fast asleep when stray bullets tore through the home of the neighbour keeping watch over her in Dennery on the night of October 1, 2024. She sustained four gunshot wounds, including one to her face.

Her mother, Britney Paul, was only minutes away, traveling home from work by bus.

Julia and her older brother were staying with the neighbour who had agreed to watch them until their parents returned.

Around 8:30 p.m., while the neighbour’s 19-year-old son sat outside, a gunman opened fire, shooting through the galvanised fence.

Reports indicate the gunman also jumped the fence and continued firing as he entered the yard.

When the shooting stopped, it was discovered that the 19-year-old had been hit three times. Inside the house, Julia was struck by bullets that penetrated the house’s wooden walls.

Both the teenager and Julia were rushed to a medical facility for treatment.

Britney, who had just gotten off the bus minutes after the shooting, described the moment she realised her daughter had been hurt: “The bus put me down by my home, by the road. I saw a little group of people so I was wondering if it was my little brother who had gotten involved in something. When I got down from the bus, I heard someone saying, ‘Pretty, Pretty!’ So, I said ‘Pretty?’ [Julia’s nickname]. My brother ran to me, he held me around my neck and told me, ‘Relax, relax’. So, I asked him, ‘Relax for what?. Then I saw two people crossing the road with someone in their arms, when I looked I saw it was my daughter, so I asked my brother, “What’s going on there?” He told me,  “Well, they came and burst shots by the girl’s home and it took Pretty in her mouth. I said, ‘what!?’ and I started crying.”

At the hospital, once treated, Britney was able to speak with her daughter. “When I watched her on the bed, I said ‘Julia’, she said, ‘yeah’. I said ‘Julia, you okay? She told me, ‘Mommy, I was sleeping and somebody come and shoot me’. I told her well, the person didn’t come and shoot you, it wasn’t you the person came after, but you were there. So it took you because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Britney told St. Lucia Times.

It has been weeks since the shooting, and Britney is still grappling with the aftermath. Julia, though recovering, is tasked with overcoming the lingering effects of her injuries.

“Well, I find compared to the way she was, she’s trying to get there. She complains, like her nose has something in it, I don’t know what. But she keeps on telling me her nose has something in it. And it itches her a lot,” Britney shared.

Julia is also having difficulty eating, which has delayed her return to school. “Well, I said I would send her back in January, because of the wounds, it doesn’t make any sense to send her to school since she’s not eating properly. It’s more drink she’s able to drink. She tries to eat something, but that’s the only thing she can do, try.”

An upcoming medical procedure, though costly, is expected to help. Saint Lucia’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr.  Sharon Belmar George, has been helping to coordinate the logistics, and Britney has received offers of help with the bill from concerned citizens. However, she is still waiting for a formal account to be set up for donations.

“Mostly everyone asking how they can donate asks for a bank account. I wanted to do one in the Laborie Credit Union. They told me since I have a credit union book there I can make people send the money there but the lady who was there with me called and told me to wait awhile, don’t give anybody the account number, because the manager of the credit union said they need to discuss further. So soon, we will be able to send the account number out. I’m just seeking help, whoever can help, help me please,” Britney pleaded.

Six-year-old Julia continues to be startled by loud noises, often jumping in fear, a response Britney hopes counseling will help ease: “If by chance she hears certain little noises, she would jump and say, “Mommy, mommy what happened there? What’s going on there?’ I would tell her ‘It’s nothing, someone knocked something’, or something like that.”

For Britney, the emotional toll is heavy, affecting her eating habits, though she remains hopeful: “I’m just praying to God, asking Him to give me strength and lead me to the right path.”

Since the incident, residents in the community have become more cautious, many employing self-imposed curfews in an effort to stay safe. “Before it’s 5 or 6 p.m., people already want to go inside and close their homes,” Britney noted, reflecting the fear that still grips the area.

PHOTO: Scene where shooting occurred