Female blasts police for inhumane treatment
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A young man was this morning (June 4) shot multiple times to the body in McKnight and, at press time, was undergoing emergency treatment at the JNF General Hospital.
Hospitalised is Jermaine Wilkinson of Connell Street, McKnight, who was shot four times to the body by a masked gunman who confronted the 23-year-old while he was exiting his yard.
This publication learnt that shortly before 8:00 a.m., Wilkinson and his child’s mother were about to exit his yard when the masked man approached and pointed a gun at him.
“When Jermaine and his girlfriend were about to leave the yard, he saw a short brown-skinned guy wearing a mask pointing a gun at him. Jermaine instinctively pushed his girlfriend behind the gate and started running east along Connell Street.
“The gunman chased after him firing shots and Jermaine ran across Horsford’s Road unto the grounds of the Red Cross building and exited on the Infirmary Road when he fell down bleeding profusely. Many of us heard the continuous sound of gunfire, but by the time we reached to render assistance to Jermaine, the gunman had already fled from the area,” a resident told SKNVibes.
A female relative of the wounded man gave a similar account of the incident but blasted the police for what she termed “their inhumane treatment to a critically wounded man”, and also the incompetence of those who are tasked to respond to 911 calls.
“When I arrived at the scene, Jermaine was lying on the road with lots of blood flowing from his wounds. He cried out for water but we didn’t give him any. I took out my cell phone and dialed 911 but there was no response. Many other persons at the scene also called 911 but the same thing happened. However, someone decided to call the Basseterre Police Station and they got a response.
“Shortly after, a group of police officers and soldiers arrived at the scene and their behaviour did not depict that of protectors of citizens of this country. They were very ill-mannered. The first thing they did was to shout at us to get away from there. I however told them that I was not moving until they take Jermaine to the hospital.
“One of them said they were looking for shells and they would not be putting Jermaine in their vehicle because he was bleeding too much. I started to argue with them and they decided that they would transport him to the hospital only if we provide them with a shirt or any material that would not cause the vehicle to be bloodied.
“One woman ran back to her home and brought a sheet, another brought two towels and two men took off their shirts. But the most inhumane aspect of this situation is that neither the police nor the soldiers rendered assistance in putting Jermaine into the vehicle. I was assisted by two men in lifting Jermaine and putting him into the vehicle. Tell me, is this the way persons who are mandated to uphold the law should behave towards those whose tax-paying dollars are used to support them?” the female relative said.
SKNVibes visited the hospital and learnt that Wilkinson was not only in stable condition, but he was also conscious and talking to relatives.
This media house also learnt that Wilkinson was wounded in the shoulders, abdomen and leg, and one of his fingers is broken.
This is the fourth shooting incident in a matter of six days that have left five men seeking medical treatment.
Shortly before 9:00 a.m. on Monday (May 30) Adrian ‘Mac 1’ Stringette (20) of Neverson Street East, Newtown was shot while at a public pipe at the junction of James Street and Manchester Avenue in Newtown.
Two day after (June 1) at approximately 7:30 p.m., 27-year-old David ‘Dibaloo’ Thomas of Buckley’s Estate was shot in both legs in the vicinity of the railway in that community.
And last night (June 3), two men were shot in Newtown.
