Man shot in the head in brazen daylight shooting

The lower Middle Street area erupted in chaos Tuesday morning when a man carrying an umbrella, and what appeared to be a gun, opened fire in the area of C Prescott & Sons Ltd.

The assailant, who appeared to be wearing a dreadlocked hairstyle, fired four shots, some of which struck Rockies resident Lionel “Gobler” George in the head, knocking loose some of his teeth, eye witnesses said.

The shooter then fled through the busy Kingstown market and on to the road leading to the St Vincent Electricity Services (VINLEC) where he made good his escape.

Shortly after the attack, cellular phone recordings began making the rounds on social media showing George bleeding profusely from his head while being held by his girlfriend Deneisha “Gazaden” Corridon, a popular social media personality. The two were said to be unpacking clothing for sale when the attack took place at about 9:02 a.m.

The gunman is said to have walked up the street from the direction of Gonsalves Liquors.

In one of the recordings, the man doing the taping comments that George is all but dead having been shot in his head. Moments later, he is placed in the trunk of a car with Corridon holding him, as the driver speeds off to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH).

Soon after the shooting, the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVPF) launched their investigation, the first order of business being to place a wanted bulletin for Lejay “Soups” Alexander, a resident of Glen/Brighton.

Alexander did not waste time turning himself in to the police, as around 6:23 p.m., a lawyer, Grant Connell, took him into police headquarters and handed him over to the MCU.

George is said to be in a stable condition at the MCMH and is expected to live according to a police source.

George is no stranger to the law. In 2018, when he was 25, George was charged with, on November 4, 2018, at Rockies, attempting to murder Tevin Williams, also from Rockies, by shooting him in the chest. Williams was subsequently murdered on September 9 this year. He was shot in the neck by a hooded masked man in vicinity of ACE in Kingstown at around 8 p.m. while liming with friends.

On November 21, 2018, George, along with three other persons, was named as a suspect in the shooting death of shopkeeper Sabitree Lyttle. He was never charged. Lyttle was shot multiple times at the shop and home that she shared with her husband and children.

Also, George became a person of interest in a Saturday, October 13, 2018 midnight attack in Paul’s Avenue which left four men shot, with one, Len “President” Stowe, succumbing to his injuries. The other men injured in the melee were residents of the area — Erel “Boatie” Hector, 18, Farax “Spragga” Prescott, 40 and Dino King 48.

Meanwhile, investigators are asking persons with information about this latest shooting and other crimes to contact any police station in St Vincent and the Grenadines, or the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Crime at 456-1339 or 457-1211 extension 217 or the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) or the MCU at 456-1810 or 457-1211 ext. 216, 220.

The police say that all information received will be treated confidentially while they also note that SVG remains a safe and peaceful country.

“These and other shootings according to police intelligence are mostly drug related. Nonetheless, no effort is being speared by law enforcement officials to maintain law and order and to bring the perpetrators of crimes to justice,” said the police in a release.