And while Baby Etana was killed on Sunday morning on Gill Street - by Tuesday night, there was another shooting, this time it was 26 year-old Eric Tillett.
Police had already set up a checkpoint on Gill Street, but that was still no deterrent for a gunman who hid in the bush out of the police's sight, and ambushed Tillett and his girlfriend when they arrived at their Gill Street home.
As we reported, they pulled up at around 8:30 on Tillett's motorcycle. They were about to enter their yard, when the gunman burst out of the abandoned lot next door, and fired a single shot at Tillett, injuring him him to the left calf. He was rushed to the KHMH, where it was later learned that the bullet broke one of the bones in his lower leg.
Today, the press asked the police commander of operations how the shooter escaped undetected even though police were just a few hundred meters away. He explained that the officers and the checkpoint were on a part of Gill Street where they couldn't see shooting unfolding in real time. Here's how he explained it this afternoon:
DCP Chester Williams, Commander - Operations
"The check point is manned on a 24 hour basis. If you notice how Gill Street is situated, the check point was closer to Faber's Road when the shooting occurred. There is a curve going south and the shooting occurred after the curve and so from where the check point was, the police would not have been able to see the area where the shooting had taken place and so what we have done, is that we have now put the check point at the center portion between Caesar Ridge and Faber's Road on Gill Street, so the distance to both end of the street is now equal and with that particular incident, the suspect, there is a bushy lot and the suspect was waiting in the bushes and when the victim and his girlfriend came home on a motorcycle, he came out of the bushes and he fired one shot, hitting the victim Mr. Tillett in his foot. So although the police were on the street, they were more up and it was not possible for them to have been able to see the area where the shooting occurred. So we have made adjustments to be able to mend that situation."
Reporter
"Now acknowledging that there is an ongoing feud between rival groups in that area, is this one for mediation?"
DCP Chester Williams
"There are several factions involved and what we want is to be able to find the persons who are first and foremost criminally responsible for the actions that have occurred within that area and then we deal with those persons and then we look at mediation to prevent any retaliation for any of the incidents that have occurred in the area."
Yesterday, Tillett's girlfriend told us that his recovery has been going well so far. As noted earlier, police do have a suspect who is a minor, but, again, they need witnesses.
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