Woman feared the worst before deadly shooting

A mother of four who was among five persons, including a child, who were shot in an incident on Monday on Studio One Boulevard, said that she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.

According to police reports, Martin Duncan, a loader man, was waiting at a bus stop around 3:55 p.m. when gunmen approached and opened fire. Duncan was killed while the injured were taken to hospital. The woman said things started going badly when her routine was altered as her regular driver was unavailable.

"We weren't in the mood to leave work yet, but there was nothing to do there. And it was the end of work shift, so we ended up leaving. We had to wait a while because the bus had broken down," she said. Then, she noticed a conductor kept coming toward the bus, acting suspiciously.

"Mind you, this bus that I was on has a stable conductor. But this conductor kept looking over his shoulder and he was really suspicious, like he was looking for somebody," she said. The third 'sign' was when a woman with a young child boarded the bus.

"From the baby reach on the bus, the baby was bawling out 'Mi nuh want deh pon the bus! Mommy tek me off! Mi want go home!'" The woman, who was seated directly behind the driver, rested her head on the driver's seat, only to be jolted by an explosion.

"Mi did so shocked but me see everybody at the back of the bus started running out, but the babymother beside me never move. When I pushed her she not even realise say she a move leave the baby," she said. Passengers only noticed that the child had been shot after the mother cried out in panic.

"Mi turn back fi go help her with the baby only fi hear one taxi driver weh a drive pass say 'Lady yuh nuh see say yuh get shot!'" she recalled. "Mi neva know say mi get shot because the bullet went right through, maybe that's why mi never feel it." The bullet travelled through her left breast, exited the other side, before piercing her arm.

"I thank God for the police that responded because his reflex was that good. But if there is one thing I know, I might not know that police officer, but wherever he is, I am grateful for him. His fast thinking is what saved that child," said the woman. The cop who intervened was able to stop the child's bleeding and took the youngster to the hospital.

"That was my first experience but it make me look at life different. This one is a life lesson for me," she said. "When I got admitted to the hospital, my mind keep going back to my children. I was saying it's not like it's not like a idle me a idle. Work mi ago work."

Though currently undergoing medical treatment, she said that getting over the incident will not be easy.

"Every time I take a bus, it's straight back there my mind go. But thank God that I am here to tell the story."