Barrouallie youths injured in spree of violence

A recent rash of violence in the Central Leeward town of Barrouallie has put four young men from the area, between the ages of 17 and 23, in the Male Surgical ward of the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, with serious to critical injuries.{{more}}

The latest incident occurred at Glebe Hill on Tuesday, April 14th, around 9:30pm. 21-year-old Terrance Benn, who is hospitalized with a gun shot wound to the left side of his abdomen, told SEARCHLIGHT that he was sitting on a bench with six friends when two masked men came up and started shooting at them. Benn said that after he was shot, he began to run, then he fell and was later taken to the Barrouallie clinic for treatment. “I am not in any gang and I don’t know why anyone should be shooting at me,” Benn said.

Easlyn Benn said that when she heard that her son had been shot she couldn’t sleep. She said that she is praying for him to get well. She also hopes that the young men of Barrouallie would unite and stop the violence that is taking over the community.

Also injured in the Glebe Hill shooting is 18-year-old Mandraca Solomon. His mother Glenda told SEARCHLIGHT that she was standing in the area close to her son talking with three friends when the shooting began. “I run in the people dem house when I hear the first shot and by the fourth one, I was under dem bed,” she said. Solomon also said that while she was hiding under the bed, she had a feeling that her son had been shot. “I almost faint but thank God he is still alive,” the distraught mother said.

Solomon was shot in the left knee; the police have not made any arrests in that incident.

On Monday, April 13th, around 8:30pm, Sylvanus Williams received multiple chop wounds to his body; no arrest has been made in that incident either.

Seventeen-year-old Kesroy Joseph received multiple stab wounds on Sunday, April 12th, around 5:30pm, in an incident which occurred within sight of the Barrouallie Police Station. Tadius Lewis, also 17-years-old, was charged in that matter.

Many Barrouallie residents are claiming the violence is gang related. One young man said that if you speak to someone who “belongs” to a crew that doesn’t get along with another crew, you might be threatened with violence. In 2007, around the Easter holidays, a two-week spate of shooting in Barrouallie left one man dead, another lost his left arm, while a third had to have his leg amputated due to gunshot wounds.