BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SHERVIN DAVID, the young man who was shot shortly before 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 11, 2012 while among a group of men in Prickly Pear Alley, declared that God has preserved his life during the unfortunate incident and he has given Him the glory.
“I am very fortunate to be alive today after being shot seven times by unknown assailants. I am a believer in God but I was not serving Him with diligence.
"However, without his intervention on that fateful morning, I would not have been alive today to tell my story and let the world know that I am now a stronger believer in God and has given Him the glory for my preservation.
“I have vowed to serve Him all the days of my life, and although I have forgiven the individuals who have caused me much stress and trauma and have denied me the temporary use of my right hand, I would like to see them brought before the court and convicted for the crime of which I was an innocent victim.”
Recounting the traumatic event of that morning, David said he has a Rastafarian friend who owns a bar in Lower Prickly Pear Alley and he normally assists him whenever he (the friend) leaves to sell his ital dishes.
“I was helping my friend in his bar on Saturday night. When he returned, I felt hungry and decided to purchase some chicken and fries from Uncle T’s Snackette on Cayon Street. I did not return to my friend’s bar and instead headed for my home on Upper Prickly Pear Alley. As I was approaching my home, I saw another friend who was sitting among some male adults and I stopped and shared the chicken and fries with him.
“He first ate and while I was eating a black car was passing on Central Street. Suddenly everybody’s attention was drawn in the direction of Central Street because we all heard a screeching sound. It was the black car that stopped on the street. Two masked men suddenly appeared at the junction of Central Street and Prickly Pear Alley with guns in their hands and started shooting in our direction.
“Everybody immediately got up and started running. I felt a sudden pain in my right hand and I ran into a nearby yard and attempted to climb over the concrete wall but fell to the ground because my right hand felt lifeless.
“I looked at my hand and saw a lot of blood spurting from it and I lost consciousness for a few seconds. After regaining consciousness, I scrawled behind two garbage cans in an attempt to escape the gunmen, but the lower part of my body was not concealed and the gunmen stood at the entrance of the yard and continued shooting at me before running back to Central Street and escaping in the black car.
“I was first shot three times on my right hand and, after hiding behind the garbage cans I was shot three times in my right leg and once in the left.”
He said everything happened so fast that he did not get a chance to identify who his attackers were.
Like many other residents of Prickly Pear Alley, the young man said it had to be an act of mistaken identity because he has done no one any wrong and “I am not in any gang and do not intend to be a gang member”.
The 20-year-old could not stop praising God.
“I firmly believe that it was the presence of God that caused me not to die that early morning. After I lost consciousness I felt something strange was happening to me and it motivated me to crawl behind the garbage cans. If that did not happen I would have been shot to other parts of my body instead of my legs.”
David said that while recuperating in the hospital he read his Bible everyday and had much time to reflect on his life.
“God has been calling on me to be closer to Him for quite some time now. I came to realise this after not having a steady job and not giving thanks to Him for small mercies. In recent times, I noticed that when I get a job and something would happen and I would lose it. I think God was testing my resolve and trust in Him, but I did not pay heed to the signs. However, today, I have come to realise that without Him in my life I am nothing, and no one or anything can ever stop me from praising my God.”
David, whose little finger on his right hand was broken from the ordeal, said that he had done some research on the number seven in the Holy Bible and has learnt to understand its significance in a positive way.
“In my research, I found that the number seven is said to be the holy number of God. According to Anthony Delgado, ‘The number seven is used over 700 times in the Bible; 54 of which are in Revelation. Many believe the number seven symbolizes spiritual perfection and that all existence is hinged on this number’.
“The word of God is founded on the number seven, which represents the week of creation within which God worked for six days and rested on the seventh…the Sabbath. Therefore, in this context, the number seven speaks of completeness or perfection. In Joshua 6:1-16, when the Israelites took the city of Jericho God told them to march around it seven times.
“The number seven is so symbolical that in the Book of Revelation we read about seven Churches, seven Seals, seven Trumpets, seven Personages, seven Veils, seven Dooms, and seven New Things. This signifies the completeness of all things. Therefore, since I have been shot seven times, I see it as the symbol whereby God wants me to complete my devotion to Him.”
After being warded at the Joseph N France General Hospital for 21 days, David was discharged but regularly returns to the medical institution for treatment to his wounds.
Two young men, 24-year-old Inebo Hendrickson of Upper Monkey Hill and 19-year-old Oval Lake of Shadwell Estate, have since been charged for allegedly shooting at David with intent and were remanded to Her Majesty’ Prison.
