Schoolboys shot dead

The father of one of the two schoolboys, who were shot and killed by gunmen while travelling in a taxi from school yesterday in St James, said he saw the bullet-riddled car pass him and he started having belly pains.

“I just knew my son had been shot,” said the father of Justin Perry, seven, a student of Chetwood Primary School. Justin’s schoolmate Nacholive Smith, nine, and a man, who, up to press time remained unidentified, was also killed. The incident occurred in Flower Hill about 6 p.m. The father said that there were omens of tragedy leading up to Monday. He said that his sole had been scratching him for days, something in Jamaican folklore that signifies death. He also said he dreamt that a bar had been shot up by gunmen.

There is a reported gang feud wreaking havoc in Flower Hill and Salt Spring areas. Justin’s father said that his son’s mother feared that the youngster might get caught up in it, so she warned his driver not to venture beyond their home.

“My son’s mother warned the driver not to take him up the road because war up there,” Justin’s father told reporters. Justin resided at Repasture, and Nacholive lived at Buck Toe Lane in the Salt Spring community. Reports are that they were travelling in the back of the vehicle on their way home, when the driver picked up a male passenger who seemed to have been the attackers target. The gunmen fired shots into the car hitting the male passenger several times. He died on the spot. The boys were pronounced dead at the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

“Justin was a brilliant student who gave no trouble. Good behaving boy. An A-student. Deep inside everything inside me is gone,” said the teary-eyed father.

According to him, the driver has been transporting his son for the last four years. He is known to transport schoolchildren in the community on private charter.

The killings follow four deaths in the last two weeks in the area. The police believe the deaths are gang-related.