Bedward Gardens filled with broken hearts

A shopkeeper in Bedward Gardens, St Andrew, said that for two minutes he thought he was living a nightmare when gunmen opened fire at his business establishment on Saturday, which resulted in the death of three men and the injury of another in the often-volatile August Town community.

The businessman said that the shooting started less than a minute after he closed down his shop.

"Mi inside a write down a list of groceries weh mi fi get a road tomorrow, when mi only hear a man say 'no man no move'. But mi never think a anything serious until mi start hear the bagga explosions," he said.

On Sunday, although visibly shaken, the businessman was still counting his blessings. He said that his life flashed before his eyes when a bullet struck a refrigerator in his shop as he sought refuge inside his establishment.

"Mi couldn't move because mi nuh know weh di shot dem a come from, so mi go under the cupboard, but the amount of shots weh dem fire, one all fly pass me and fly through mi deep freeze," he said.

The man said that after the shooting subsided he exited his shop only to encounter more trauma at the doorsteps.

"When mi step outside a Keno that mi see dead a ground. Mi nuh know weh fi do, if me fi lock up the shop or not. Shortly after a man come at the shop and me a show him say Keno dead and him say 'see another man dead right deh suh to'. Di same time the bredrin a walk a look fi see if any other man dead, and a so dem find 'Buppy' fold up inna di corner. Mi feel it, enuh, bredda," he said.

The deceased men are cousins Rasheed 'Buppy' Edwards, 24 and Keno Wray, 18, as well as Kevan Jackson, 22.

An aunt told THE STAR that Keno and Rasheed were not troublemakers and did not deserve to die like that.

"We are all completely shaken up by this. Dem just left the house and say dem a guh buy some juice and biscuits cause a party did a gwan earlier. A three innocent youth dem kill, none a dem no deserve this," she said.

The aunt said that Edwards leaves behind a one-year-old daughter who, she says shares a special bond with her father.

"I don't know what will happen to her because when yuh talk bout father of the year, a him that. A him care fi her from she born," she said.

She described Keno as humble, and said that the former Mona High School student wanted to pursue a career in football.

"Yuh nah go see him inna no bangarang. Right now we don't know how wi a guh tell him grandmother cause she no stop ask for him since Saturday," the aunt said.

Meanwhile, the passing of Jackson, son of veteran reggae singer Sanchez, has triggered a great deal of emotional pain for his family.

"A him play music fi everyone ina di community. Music him say like him father. Right now wi too shaken up fi talk because none of this fi happen. Kevan is a good youth," a relative said.

The police said that about 4:50 a.m. they responded to a call from residents. Upon arrival three men were discovered lying down on a dirt track in the vicinity of a football field with what appeared to be gunshot wounds. They were assisted to the hospital where all three men were pronounced dead.

- R.M.