Mechanics lucky to be alive after ambush by gunman

Mechanics Kenson Edwards and Cornelius Ryan are thanking God for sparing their lives.

Edwards from Gomea, and Ryan from Belmont are the victims of a violent robbery that took place at Calder on Monday around 11:12 p.m.

Edwards, who was shot in his left shoulder, was released from the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) on Wednesday, while Ryan escaped the ordeal unhurt, but badly shaken up.

The duo said on Monday, they went to Diamond to fix a truck and after completing that task, they journeyed to Calder to return their employer’s vehicle. After dropping off the jeep, they picked up a car and headed for home, using the road in the area of the Calder Primary School.

While driving, the men observed a steel chair with a plastic bottom in the middle of the road, but they did not suspect anything sinister, as they use that strip of road regularly.

Ryan came out of the car to remove the chair and when he stooped to pick it up, he saw a masked man, with something resembling a piece of pipe in his hands come out of some nearby bushes.

Edwards recall seeing Ryan freeze, after which everything went haywire.

“I see somebody coming out the bush with them face wrap up and something in dem hand wrap up too, and the man say freeze, and the man pelt a shot and I see the hat come off Cornelius head,” said Edwards.

The frightened man said when he heard the gunshot and saw the hat fly off Ryan’s head, he thought that his friend had been shot, so he ducked down in the vehicle and his eyes fogged up.

“I was scared, then he fired a next shot, so I raise up and reverse the car and he pelt a shot at the car, but the first one did not catch me and then he pelt a next one and that one hit me in my shoulder and me hand cramp up and the car roll back and jam and I got out and run,” said Edwards.

He said he ran for help and was taken to the Evesham Health Clinic and then transported to the MCMH.

The robber made off with what he could from the abandoned vehicle, including money, Empire cigarettes and a flash drive.

Ryan said the incident has terrified him, but he is a God-fearing man and as a result he is thanking God for saving his life.

“I freeze and he still try shoot me in my head. He didn’t fire a warning shot; he must have thought that the tool I had in my hand was a threat, because I don’t see why he would try shoot me in my head,” said Ryan, who hid in some bushes after the ordeal.

Both men say they did not recognize who shot at them or what he was wearing. They say they will continue using the route, although they almost lost their lives on the piece of road. They, however, declined to have their photographs taken.

Ryan also revealed that this is the second robbery in the area in recent times, as a few weeks ago, a couple in the area was robbed in their home by someone in a white rental vehicle.

He said the man, a fish vendor, ran after the vehicle and threw something at the back windscreen and shattered it, but the robbers continued driving.

Police are investigating.(LC)