Shootings leave one dead, others injured

A bitter rivalry between two groups from the Redemption Sharpes community may have possibly led to the shooting death of one area resident and the hospitalization of another.{{more}}

Dead is 22-year-old Esron Ells, also known as “Ezzie” and “Banks” a member of the musical group Rocks Empire, who was shot sometime after 10p.m. on Friday night in the area of the old National Broadcasting Corporation building.

Ells was gunned down in what was described as an ambush, following the shooting of one of his friends identified as ‘Skirty’, who is currently a patient at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

The former student of the Lodge Village Government School and the Emmanuel High School Kingstown, who was an employee of Sunrise Supermarket in Arnos Vale, died on his way to the hospital after he suffered a gunshot to his right cheek.

According to a close friend of Ells, who was with him moments before he was shot, Ells was at Heritage Square with other members of his group, when about four members of a rival group bumped into one of their members. The musical group, “Rocks Empire”, got its name from the Rocks community in Redemption Sharpes in which its members reside.

The close friend, who did not wish to be identified, recalled that the Rocks group decided to go to another area, away from the scene.

“We walk away from them and was going down the road and we see them still following behind we. Then the two groups stand up and the altercation start and that is when they back they guns and start shoot.”

At this point ‘Skirty’ was shot in the abdomen in the area of the First Caribbean International Bank and the rest of the group fled.

The friend, Ezzie and another group member evaded bullets by running through the FirstCaribbean Bank yard up the hill to the old NBC building, where Ezzie shouted to be careful just before he himself was shot.

“When we get to him and was talking to him, he was responding to us, but I think we lose him going to the hospital.”

A post mortem was scheduled to take place on Ells and family members are making arrangements for the funeral service.

Ells was described as a fun loving individual who did not cause trouble but was more of the party type.

His friend indicated that he would be greatly missed as the community goes through a period of mourning.

“To tell the truth right now we can’t study retaliation because if you notice somebody now lose they life; but we don’t know what can happen in the future,” the friend said.

Friday’s shootings were the beginning of a bloody weekend which culminated on Saturday night, when three men were shot and injured in the Murray’s Village community just after 9pm.