A.G. RESPONDS
In light of one man being killed and several injured during a shooting at the Grand Kadooment climax on the Spring Garden Highway, there will be an urgent meeting of the Council for National Security.
Yesterday, speaking on a local call-in programme about the incident, Adriel Brathwaite briefly outlined that the Council, which is chaired by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, will be meeting as soon possible to address the issue which is of major concern to Barbadians.
Police are investigating the shooting death of 20-year-old Taried Junior Rock, of 3rd Avenue Chapman Lane, St Michael. It occurred just after 6 p.m. on Monday.
It was reported that a number of gunshots were heard and officers who were on duty along Spring Garden subsequently discovered the victim’s lifeless body on the sidewalk.
As a result of that incident, several people including a six-year-old who was grazed by a bullet, suffered non-life-threatening gunshot injuries.
The Attorney General said he did not respond to the incident until yesterday morning, because up to Monday night members of the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) were still carrying out a thorough investigation.
He said that initially he did not have all the facts and was waiting to be updated by the top brass of the RBPF.
“I didn’t want to run to the media last night with incomplete information. I heard that the Police Public Relations Officer [Inspector Roland Cobbler] had issued a statement and I said ‘okay fine, I will [update the media] this morning’. I can now speak with confidence because I have been given all the relevant information,” he explained.
Brathwaite said he was informed that the shooting incident was gang on gang related and there was no evidence to suggest that Police and civilians were being targeted by any particular group.
He said the country was on its way to completing what he considers to be a reasonably successful Crop Over season, which was relatively incident free, until 6 p.m.
“From what I am being told these two alleged assailants, possibly from one gang saw this other guy, now the deceased, off Westbury Road and began shooting at him.
“In order to escape them he ran on to Spring Garden and rather than to cease shooting they continued to shoot at him.
“As you know, he died along the Highway there and we know another 18 persons received various injuries and stuff,” Brathwaite explained.
The Attorney General said this type of behaviour must be frowned upon by society and noted that all must be done to remove the illegal firearms from the hands of the youth. However, he warned that this mission is not as simple and some may believe.
He said as the country struggles to overcome “a bit of a gang problem”, strategies must be developed to not only deter young people from getting involved in gang related activities, but also to provide them with alternative and vocational education sessions to keep them occupied.
“Of course, we have to stop the leakage in terms of the number of firearms that are coming through our ports of entry continuously. But that again is a continuous process,” he said.
While there was a stabling incident between two females at the Fore Day Morning jam, The Attorney General said he was concerned about the increasing level of violence among young women. He said this development should also concern members of society, more so than anything else, because young women are the mothers of future generations. (AH)