Residents of Marchand were left shaken late Thursday night after gunfire erupted in the neighbourhood, killing two males – 15-year-old Kevin Ishmael and 52-year-old Sean St Brice, according to locals.
Four others were injured in the shooting.
Residents reported that the shooting occurred close to midnight. Marcia ‘Doris’ John said she was asleep when the sound of gunfire woke her.
John said several rounds of ammunition were fired. “It sounded like a machine gunshot,” she recalled. “Then I heard screams and cries.”
She later learned that her younger cousin, Ishmael, had been shot. He was rushed into surgery but later succumbed to his injuries.
Kevin’s mother said she was at work when the incident happened. “Every night he comes to drop me on the bus stand,” she told reporters, recalling how Kevin had dropped her off earlier that evening. “My child hasn’t done anything to anyone, the people just kill my child just so. My child had his whole life ahead of him.”
She said Kevin was attending the Centre for Adolescent Renewal and Education (CARE) and wanted to become a mechanic.
The second victim, St Brice, was described by his sister Sylvia Demille as reserved. She said the family is devastated by the loss.
“About 18 minutes to midnight I got a call saying something happened to my brother, but I couldn’t get any details,” she said. When her niece got to the site, Demille said an officer said, ‘the guy lying on the ground looks like you’, referring to my niece.
“To be honest, this thing has to stop. My brother never gave any trouble, never. I don’t think my brother had five friends. Never brought a friend home. It’s just a sad day for us today, very sad.”
She added that the family had already lost another brother last year to natural causes, and now only the five sisters remain.
“You never really feel it until it hits home, and it’s come calling,” she said. “So I’m now calling on the authorities: I think this thing needs to stop, because if everybody decides to get a firearm and just spray people, it will not be a very nice thing.”
A male resident said he saw one of the victims with an injured leg and helped transport him to the hospital.
“We need some justice,” he said. “I just heard a vehicle pull up by the road.
The resident said that after continuous gunshots, he went to the streetside where he saw multiple people lying on the ground.
Peep where are the better days Peep
Kat, you and your cohorts are rejoicing over these murders. Please don’t do that.
I do not support the killing but what is the root of these killings in St. Lucia, is it drugs? The news never say the school the young man wan was attending. We need more info about him.
Kid looks so innocent there. And then you see the pic circulating on social media. Several gold chains, bare back, right hand and fingers default to the position of him carrying a shotgun or automatic weapon. What a time to be alive.
This is really sad to see so many young lives taken away by violence. I don’t envy any government who has to preside over such state of lawlessness. My condolences to the families and my empathy towards the government but I have one big question for the Minister of National Security. Why hasn’t your constituency been declared a heightened crime zone(ground zero according to you when you declared that name on Vieux Fort)? To me the numbers and frequency are identical to what pertained in Vieux Fort a few years ago.
You cannot manage what you do not measure. I heard the prime Minister said, he supports the Police, he provides the necessary equipment’s to the police and he has added more man power to the police force. All of these are very good intentions. Mr. Prime Minister, have you taken the time to measure how effective those deliveries have been ? Have you taken the time or request a report on a weekly or monthly basis to understand the progress being made. Obviously your support have not been working and it appears to me you are just stuck in one direction. No one should blame you for the crime, you are not the criminal. No one should expect you to stop the crimes. Managing the crimes and criminals should be your job with no excuses. By now you should have strategies in place, procedure in place, processes in place to combat those criminals. Since the Vfort uprising, nothing has changed. The criminals have just moved from the south to the Castries area with no fear. They feel free to kill anyone at any time. At some point there was a freeze. It was nothing you and the police did for that truce. Instead I believe the criminals were re-calibrating their plan. Now they are out more dangerous, more powerful and above all they are bold in their activities. Within the 24 hours, they kill at any time of the day. Mr. PM, we want solutions without politics. The question remains, what are your plans to manage the crimes and criminals. Your current strategy is not working as everyone can see.