10-y-o BOY shot in drive-by needs surgery - Mom pleads for blood donations

Ten year-old Trevel Walker loves to play football and is described by his mother Chrissy as an athletic youth, but a horrific incident has left the youngster's mobility hanging in the balance.

Trevel was shot and injured by gunmen in Wilton Gardens, more commonly known as Rema, last Thursday. He was among seven persons shot in a drive-by gun attack on Third Street in the community. Two men were killed. Trevel was shot in his left side and the bullet lodged in his belly. His mother said the bullet also caused serious injuries to his spine.

"He was to do a surgery today [yesterday] but they found something in the blood so they delayed the surgery. His spinal cord is damaged and his back bone is broken. For now he cannot walk. The doctors are saying that there is a possibility that he may not walk again, but I believe he will walk again by God's will. My son is still in shock but he will talk to me. He is very traumatised and he wants me to rub his belly all the time," she said

According to Chrissy, she had sent her son to a nearby shop and he was footsteps away from her when gunshots rang out.

"I was shouting and signalling for him to crouch and get flat. The shots were firing and afterwards I told him to run come to me and while he was running towards me, I heard a shot fire in our direction. Him reach up on the sidewalk to where I was and he fell. I still didn't realise that he got shot until I got on my knees, crawled towards him, start drawing him to me and I see him side bleeding. I was so frightened, I just started screaming," she said.

Trevel urgently needs blood for his operation. His mother said she is appreciative of blood donations which can be done at the Blood Bank on Slipe Pen Road in Kingston.

Commanding officer for the Kingston West Police Division, Senior Superintendent Michael Phipps, said the incident is tied to an ongoing feud between the 'Buckers' and 'Fatherless' gangs in the area. Speaking with THE STAR yesterday, the senior cop said one of the men who was listed as a person of interest has turned himself in to the police. He also stated the Fatherless gang has been operating with the Rema space since the 1990s, creating problems.

"There have been different generations of the gang as well but the police are working hard to solve this particular case as well as others," he said.

Children's Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison has condemned the attack on Trevel and other children who are victims of violence.

"When we talk about violence against children, it takes many forms, and it has not escaped our attention that we actually have these shootings of children. In the past few weeks, we have had one fatal and another with very serious injuries. It is really another form of how the tentacles impact our children in a very serious way," she said.

"To say we are sad by this is an understatement and we need to be speaking up. Persons may not have been eyewitnesses, but they may have some information which may be useful to the authorities. If you have seen anything, this is your opportunity to be on the right side of the law and share information that could assist the police," she added.

She said trauma intervention and trauma informed care should be applied to Trevel's case.

"This little boy is going to need a lot of intervention and that is something that we can't overemphasise. We need to recognise that violence is a serious public health crisis and not just a national criminal security issue and is extremely concerning when it smears the lives of our children," Gordon Harrison said.