Email

Print

Our news team went to Ladyville, and we spoke with his common-law wife about the terrifying experience. Daniel Ortiz reports:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
35 year-old Jeffrey Eligio is currently at the KHMH recovering from internal damage he suffered from a gunshot to the abdomen area. The bullet ruptured his lungs and liver, and after emergency surgery last night, his prognosis looks promising.

Voice of: Camille Sanker - Common-law Wife
"He's stable. he's doing well thank, God."

Reporter
"Did the doctors have any concerns about the injuries and the internal damage?"

Voice of: Camille Sanker
"No, as far as we know, he's stable. I went there this morning, and I talked to him, and he was responding well."

"Mein, I never believed that I would have experienced something like this."

Sanker, Eligio and 3 of their children were inside their home last night at around 10:00. It should have been a normal evening, where everyone started retiring to bed. But, there was a strange knock at the door.

Voice of: Camille Sanker
"We were in the house; everybody just finished eating. I listened to Boledo. So, I told my gentleman that I was going to sleep because I have work for 6 o'clock in the morning. So, he said, 'okay'. I went in, lay down on the bed, and he came in."

"I heard a knocking on the door, So, he asked, 'Who is that?' But nobody answered. They knocked again, and he asked, 'Who is that?' And nobody answered. The third time they knocked, he came into the room, and he has a little knife, which he keeps in the shoes pocket. He took it out and, and he asked, 'Who is that?' I told him, 'Jeff, don't open that door because the person didn't answer.' He didn't listen, and he went straight to the door, and he opened it. As soon as he opened the door, I just heard 1 gunshot. Right in the stomach they shot him. When I looked through my room door, he saw him running straight to the backdoor, opened the back door, and he ran out. He ran for help and reached to his mother. While me, my son, and my daughter was left inside. I heard my baby crying. One of the men who came in, told him, 'Shut up!' He said, 'Yes sir, but please leave me alone.' After that, I didn't hear anything. From there, my son came out, and soon as he did, the man had the gun pointed right in his face. At this point, we can't say who it is because the person was well masked. We couldn't see anything to have a clue who it was."

Reporter
"Your son came into contact with this gunman. How did he manage to escape without getting shot?"

Voice of: Camille Sanker
"Because he said he threw himself on the ground, and he ran into the room. He said that when he ran into the room, he ran under the bed. The person followed him, but instead of going to his room, the man searched the bathroom."

Sanker herself also had to plead with these gunmen to spare her and her children's lives.

Reporter
"Did the person aggress you in any kind of way with this weapon?"

Voice of: Camille Sanker
"He just pointed it at me, and when he pointed it, I begged him. I said, 'Sir, please don't shoot me because I have my kids.' And when I asked him that, he just turned his back and walked out."

And just like that, the gunmen fled their home the way they came. At this time, Sanker and her family have no idea as to why they came there in the first place, and why they shot her common-law husband.

Voice of: Camille Sanker
"To me, it's very shocking. Even people who heard about this have been calling me and asking me if this is true. Because people who know him [my common-law], they know that he is not a trouble person like that. So, they've been calling and asking me if it is true, and I told them that it happened, but I don't know. It's very hard."

Reporter
"That person barged in and your entire family could have been killed."

Voice of: Camille Sanker
"Up to now, I am still thinking about that. I don't even know. I don't even feel comfortable anymore. But, I leave everything in God's hands. He will deal with everything."

And, a correction, Eligio is 35, not 15.

He is in stable condition.

The best explanation that the family has come up with so far is that maybe the gunmen were mistaken about who their target was, and that the assailant realized this after the fact.