One brother is in critical condition and another is truly lucky to be alive tonight after a gang of armed men invaded their home last night. Police suspect it was a drug related offensive, but the family disputes that. We do know that Anthony Lewis has a bullet lodged in his head while his brother younger brother Leevan Lewis escaped with a bruised back and lived to tell us his tale.
Keith Swift Reporting,
This modest farmhouse sits on an impressive 91 acres of real estate off mile 9 on the Western Highway. It's normally peaceful up here with quiet ponds and endless acres of greenery. But all that changed last night. This roll of duct tape, these expended 12 gauge cartridges, and even this piece of stick speak to the violence this farmhouse saw last night.
Leevan Lewis, Attacked
"Last night we were sleeping, two of us in the house, and we heard a knock on the door. Two times they knocked on the door."
The Lewis brothers, Anthony and Leevan, opened the door and that is when they say as many as four men wearing masks - 2 at least were armed and invaded the farmhouse.
Leevan Lewis,
"Four men burst in with guns and just started to beat us. They beat me and taped me up and then they took me and brought me back here and started to beat me. They beat me and took my bother back by the bush by back the pigpen and they left me with two of the other young men with the gun. They fired a shot beside me and they felt they had caught me. They felt I was dead so I heard one of them say, 'he dun dead already, let's go mek wee take Bob (Anthony) to the back.' They took him to the back. I got up with my hands tied and my mouth taped and I ran out to the front by the shop and so I got help. They rescued me and loosed my hand and told me to stay in the house until the police come and thing. I listened and I heard 'blam,' I heard a gunshot."
Leveen escaped with bruises on his back but the news wasn't as good for Anthony. That gunshot Leveen heard was possibly the shot that hit Anthony who was also bound with duct tape and gagged. With Leveen alive - priority number one for family members was to find the missing brother.
Bernadine Lewis, Sister of Victims
"We started spotting lights all around and I started calling out, 'babito, babito.' And about half an hour to almost an hour later I heard him, 'ad deh ya.' I said, 'come papa, come towards me.' And I said he is coming from this way so all of us came this way and he came and he stopped right along here. The police vehicle came at the same time so all I did was I asked them to help him for because he was wet with blood pouring down and he was wet from the swamp. He was like cramped with his clothes in his hand and something tied around his neck."
Anthony was shot in his head and left to die in this pond. Today we found blood, duct tape, and a third 12 gauge live round of.22 ammunition. And after shooting him, the family believes these footprints are the path of the gunmen who trekked half a mile and ended up here near the western highway. And this is probably where the assailants ditched their masks, shoes, pants, and even this jacket before making good their escape.
The bullets, duct tape, blood, and even masks add up to a lot of evidence and we found it lying around, 18 hours after the shooting. In fact we had unsupervised access to the scene until about 2 pm when investigators arrived and officially declared the area a crime scene. That had the family puzzled and angry. But even more puzzling is why someone wanted Leevan and Anthony dead.
Leevan Lewis,
"We don't any reason for anybody to harass we or so because we are here everyday feeding our animals and thing so we don't have problems with anyone and nobody has any problem with we. We were sleeping nicely and thing and its frightening to know that somebody just came and just haul up on we with gun and thing."
Bernadine Lewis,
"Well I don't know why because I don't know my brother as somebody who would go out and interfere anybody. My brother lived most of his life up here. He is single and he stays up here. When he drinks, sometimes yes he gives trouble like cursing and things like but it is just between family."
Keith Swift,
Police say it might have been drug related, your response.
Bernadine Lewis,
"Well my brother, he doesn't take drugs. I don't know him as a person that takes drugs or deal with drugs. They just told me that the news says its drug related. I don't know where they got that from because its not like the police came here and found anything here like drugs. They took my brothers and tried to kill them. What they were looking for, I don't now. I would have to ask my brother than when he comes out of the anesthesia today."
Leevan Lewis,
"I would really want to know who the young boys who did it because I don't know them and I would want ton see them. I want to know why and what it is the reason they came after us and harass we."
Those are questions both Leevan and the police are asking tonight.
Last night police detained two young men who were found in the area. They remain in custody. Police say the two suspects are not from the Mile 8 area. We note that a knife taken from Leevan Lewis during the attack was reportedly found on one of the detainees. Anthony Lewis is listed in a critical but stable condition tonight. The bullet remains in his head and doctors have placed him under 24-hour observation. As to why the police took so long to process the crime scene, well...police press officer G. Michael Reid told us that the police know what they are doing.
