Resident wants Redemption Sharpes to return to glory days

A resident of Redemption Sharpes wants his community to return to its glory days when it was known, not for gun violence, but for its footballers, soccer tournaments and other positive happenings.

His comments, given under the condition of anonymity, came on Wednesday morning, a little over 13 hours after Hutcher “Killer” Bute was seriously wounded by a gunshot to the neck at Paul Over, Redemption Sharpes.

According to the man who spoke to SEARCHLIGHT standing in the same spot where on Tuesday May 29, another man, Kanute “Jesse” Bess, was shot about five times, “Every time you turn around is something.”

Bute, who was shot a few feet away from where Bess was hit reportedly assisted the wounded man on that day.

The attack on Bute came around 9:10 pm Tuesday while he was at the home of a relative listening to music on the porch. Two masked gunmen entered the property from some bushes behind the house and shot him in the neck. Reports are that when he fell, two more shots were fired at his head but missed.

The men then fled into the darkness, following which residents rushed Bute to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) where he is in a stable condition.

The resident who spoke to SEARCHLIGHT said that persons are fed up of what is happening as it is destroying the community.

Also commenting on the violence in the area, a relative of Bute said she is scared to walk around after dark.

She said that she does not know Bute as a troublesome person as he keeps to himself and hardly talks to persons. She opined that the acts of violence are being commited by a few persons as not all the youngsters in the area are bad.

Police say they are treating the attacks on Bess and Bute as attempted murders. They are asking the public to assist with any information they may have and assured that all tips will be treated confidentially.