Gunman takes man’s life in midnight robbery

Hours before Elmore Mapp was killed, he spent the night roasting breadfruit and stewing chicken with acquaintances whom he had known for most of his life.{{more}}

Days later, these villagers, as well as Mapp’s family members and friends, are in disbelief over what was described as his senseless murder.

Shortly after midnight last Saturday, Mapp, 46, lost his life after being shot twice, in what is believed to be a robbery, at the home he shared with long-time friend Glaston Hunte, in Gomea.

Hunte, also known as “Big Black,” told SEARCHLIGHT on Monday that as both men lay sleeping (Mapp on the floor, in the corner of the basement room; Hunte on the bed), a gun toting robber entered the room, demanding money.

“The time the door buss open, is a gunshot up in the corner dey (pointing where Mapp was asleep), and he say ‘way de money, I come fo look fo de money,’” Hunte recalled.

“So, I tell him the money dey under the pillow, so I raise up the pillow and he push he hand underneath and he pull out.

“When he pull out he get some silver (coins) come out, so he say ‘no way the money, this nah the money.’ So, he drop the silver and he leggo another shot again. So when he leggo the other shot, I say ‘man the money dey under the pillow.’ So he push again and then he get the purse and then he say ‘ok, this is way me come for,’ and then he just run back out.”

Hunte said that although the gunman was not masked, he was unable to see the bandit’s face, since the room was dark and the smoke from the gunshots filled the room.

“After that happen now, I ask me pardna ‘Mapp yo geh lash?’ He say ‘Yeah.’ I say ‘Yo do anybody anything?’ He say no, he never do nobody nothing,” Hunte added.

Hunte, unable to move around without the use of a walker, said that his injured friend dragged himself from where he was lying, and made his way to the door.

Hunte said he warned Mapp not to go outside, and made his way to the door and called for help, as Mapp, who was shot in his upper right leg and hip, made his way back to the corner.

Hunte said he alerted a neighbour who called the police, but by the time the police arrived, his friend was already dead.

Friends of Mapp, who were present when Hunte retold the tragedy, described the scene as being “washed with blood”. They suspect the deceased bled to death.

A post mortem conducted on Tuesday, showed that Mapp’s death was caused by the gunshots rupturing a vein, which caused him to bleed to death.

Villagers remember Mapp, a sailor by profession, whose vessel is currently on dry dock at Ottley Hall, as a jovial individual, who looked out for others and was never a troublesome individual.

One man indicated that even when Mapp may have in “a drink too many”, he might get into an argument, but was never a violent person.

“He was a good help and good company too,” one woman attested.

The residents speculated that the bandit entered the room only to get whatever cash he could, and fired the shot to disable Mapp, whom they believe would have defended the more vulnerable Hunte.

“I feel it plenty because the man work up all the land give me and plant up all up dey, and he ain’t live to eat none,” Hunte said, referring to a plot of land which has various crops planted on it.

“Me and Elmore rear up together from way back. I used to live by his aunty, that why he choose to come live by me.

“If he (the robber) did just take the money and go me wonta ha no problem. It was just about $210 in there, no more. It could be less, but not more,” Hunte lamented.