A 15-year-old high school student was almost killed Saturday Night, and police say his own brother pulled the trigger. 18-year-old Jeremy Rhaburn was this evening charged with the attempted murder of his younger brother, Edwin Flores.
The shooting may sound like a terrible result of careless gunplay or the product of a family feud, but is neither. Keith Swift found out what led one brother to turn the gun on another.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Aloma Avilez, Mother of victim and accused shooter,
"I woulda prefer to believe it's a accident. Cause two of them have different stories but they are both my children and I would prefer it just be an accident. I noh wah believe nothing else cause its hard to think my son would a intentionally try kill his little brother."
Keith Swift,
Aloma Avilez would prefer it to be an accident - the gun went off by mistake she hopes. But her 15-year-old son Edwin Flores says this was no accident.
Aloma Avilez,
"I heard my son screaming for me. So when I run outside, I see my brother and my son in law they were fighting. I never think tha my son get shot until my son-in-law asked where the gun deh and tell ah they tell him you shot your own brother. And then I see my lil son pon the floor."
Her son 15-year-old Edwin Flores was shot - and his 18-year-old brother Jeremy Rhaburn had pulled the trigger of a 9milimeter gun. Edwin was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) where he underwent surgery. The first form student at St. Michael's college lost a kidney from that gunshot to his chest. He is in recovery and today at the KHMH - after the rough weekend - his spirits were lifted with a visit from his classmates. Though weaken, this 15 year old is talking and again maintains his brother shot him on purpose.
So this mother has one son in the hospital and another in jail. But she knows someone needs to pay for the shooting - even if it means of her sons will end up in prison. It's a tough stance - the kind you'd have to expect in such a tough situation.
The 9 milimeter gun used in the shooting is a firearm that was stolen in December from a Queen Charlotte Street Address.