Gunshots rang out around 11:30 this morning on Castle Street, killing a man who's no stranger to the law. 40 year old Gion Bernard - who was paralyzed back in 2019 - had just left his home when he was targeted. Bernard spent his life in and out of prison and the courtroom, but those close to him say that after a bullet left him in a wheelchair, he turned his life around.
Bernard was supposed to spend today getting a haircut, going to the clinic, and taking a few drinks with some friends. But he was killed before he could even begin his day.
Courtney Menzies was on the scene and has this story.
40 year old Gion Bernard, better known as Gizmo, has been living in a wheelchair for 6 years but that didn't stop a gunman from pulling the trigger and ending his life this morning. Bernard was reportedly on his way to the clinic but a single gunshot was fired at him while he sat right outside his gate.
He'd been renting at that home on Castle for about a month, and one of his friends and neighbors said that earlier this morning, he asked him to hang out.
Voice of: Friend of Deceased
"He is someone who just likes to relax and probably just hangs on the block and whosoever knows him might stop and give him a little handout or whatever and he take a drink or two. He sent me a voice note this morning and told me, let's link up and take a two drink. Well, I'm not a drinker like that so I told him, I'm not into that drinking right now."
"Probably couple hours later I came out of yard and somebody said someone got shot on the street. When I came, the man had his face on the tar."
Bernard had been left paralyzed after he was shot in 2019. It was the same year he walked from two attempted murder charges. It also wasn't the first time he'd been shot - only three years before that he'd survived an attempt on his life.
But despite that, his landlady and long time friend said that he was no longer a threat to anybody.
Voice of: Landlady of Deceased
"I know Gion for years, everybody knows Gion used to give his little trouble but since he got shot and paralyzed Gion doesn't really give trouble. Everyone know Gion is no threat to anybody, even if he and somebody would catch in an argument, yes he would have a little hard talk but at the end of the day, before the hard talk done, Gion will come and apologize and everything, straight with you again."
"He talks about things he used to do in the past and how he learnt, how he's changing his life and so, only that."
Courtney Menzies:
"And he never confided in you that maybe there was a threat or something on his life?"
Voice of: Landlady of Deceased
"No, none at all."
But while they don't know why he was targeted, his friend told us he never lived in fear, despite making enemies.
Voice of: Friend of Deceased
"Gizmo is an ignorant person but at the end of the day, it's like if you and him are friends, he's cool with everybody and he will respect you. He call me his old school, I'm far older than him so at the end of the day. If you and him can't agree, you will always catch, but at the end of the day, once you're friends it's different so I don't know what is the situation, I don't know what happened, I just came as a bredrin that knows and lives around him."
"He's a person that's always moving around and he's never been a fearful person that at the end of the day, if somebody wants to do him something, he won't stay in his house even though he's in a wheelchair."
"He's a youth and again, he's ignorant. You can't tell him anything and he will just take it like that. He doesn't care because he's in a wheelchair. One next thing, he doesn't feel sorry for himself. He was a person who's fearless in the sense that he always say God got him."
"My question is not to want to know who did it, my question is why."
Bernard had 3 children.
Apart from the two attempted murder charges, Bernard has also faced charges of robbery, theft, rape, and firearm offenses.
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