And while one alleged killer is off the street tonight, the violence has not stopped. And last night the neighbourhood on Victoria Street, which has seen one shooting and one murder in two days – was witness to another shooting last night. This time the victim is 20 year old Leon Bainton who was shot three times as he stood on Victoria Street around 6:35 yesterday evening.
It’s the third violent attack in that area in four days, and today Jacqueline Godwin went into the community to find residents fed up with crime.
Irate Victoria Street Resident,
“When you hang one or two of them, the rest will stop. You hear what I am telling you because they are coward, they are coward because if you will kill a man, they will stand up face to face and kill him. You do me something I will kill you. I will not come and kill the way how they shoot last night. They could have killed a lot of people out here.”
Residents living in the neighbourhood of Victoria Street have reason to be concerned. It seems like the gun violence that has predominantly affected the south side has now spilled over to the north side.
Irate Victoria Street Resident,
“I’ve lived her for 43 years, all my life. A lot of kids are around here. Supposed they had killed those children?”
Jacqueline Godwin,
What’s happening, what’s going on? What is causing all those shootings?
Irate Victoria Street Resident,
“We don’t know what happened to them. I don’t what caused their thing but they need to stop. I have one son Miss and if they ever kill my son innocently, because that little boy got shot innocently - he doesn’t know anything.”
In just five days gun violence has erupted in the area of Victoria, Castle, Lancaster and Kelly Streets. The word on
the street is that trouble is brewing between two groups of young men who reside in these neighbourhoods, and it escalated following the murder of twenty six year old Christino Madrill.
Stephanie Davis, Victoria Street Resident
“Miss last night I could not even sleep. Ask my mom, I was trembling, I couldn’t even sleep. I was afraid to go to sleep because I was afraid
they came back and shoot up again and a bullet would catch me because where I am, me one live here. I am afraid.”
Stephanie Davis is lucky to be alive. It was this metal pipe posted against the wall at the back of her bed that saved her from being shot and possibly killed on Wednesday night. The shooting left a friend of the neighbourhood twenty year old Leon Bainton hospitalized with three gunshot wounds to the stomach, back and leg.
This area resident who did not wish to appear on camera says the victim was standing outside of the Davis’ residence on Victoria Street when he was shot. He was in a group and she is surprised that no one else got hurt
Irate Victoria Street Resident,
“I didn’t think that those boys would come shoot nobody out here because they didn’t look like somebody who would come shoot somebody. So when they came I just saw the boys standing up there and I saw the young man just hauled out the gun and started to shoot right so. A lot of people were sitting down here and a lot of people were standing up there. Those boys need to stop those things. Those things can’t work around here.”
While the police are questioning two men they have detained, Bernard Bailey who is also known as “Bam” believes the shooting is connected to the killing of his friend Christino Madrill.
Bernard Bailey, Area Resident
“We grow up from we were small and we used to give trouble and thing.
But since they killed one of us it seems they want to kill all of us. Which in we are not worrying about it because all of us have to die at sometime but we have young kids around here. We just want them to hold it down.”
According to Bailey his group of friends that base on Victoria Street are being wrongfully accused by a group of young men who believe that following the murder of Christino Madrill they went into their neighbourhood and started shooting in retaliation for the killing.
Bernard Bailey,
“They said that it was us who went and shoot up around so. So if they say we went to shoot up around so because of Christino, definitely they will want to come back and respond to us, come shoot us up and thing but we didn’t go and shoot up around so.
Right now they are saying that I went to Kelly Street and stir it up back again but I didn’t go nowhere to stir up nothing again. It is my name they have full in it. Last night as I left from here, as I moved my car the shooting happened. Right here I was standing up so I don’t know if it is me they wanted to shoot because I was standing up here.”
Inside the Davis’ home police recovered two bullets believed to have come from a thirty eight pistol. The third bullet was left undetected and we found it on the ground some sixteen hours later.
Stephanie Davis,
“Miss I only heard the gunshot and I was on my mom’s bed but because we were so frightened, we jumped off of the bed and I was ducking down. I didn’t even know a bullet went into my mom’s house until the police came and people started to show us the hole because I could have gotten shot. Because the way how I jumped off the bed, it is right there the bullet was coming.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
What you think saved you?
Stephanie Davis,
“I think it is an iron which my father had by his bed really stopped this bullet from hurt me because I was so frightened Miss I didn’t even know what to do. My mom was frightened, when she jumped up she could have gotten shot.”
Hortense Joseph, Area Resident
“We have a lot of kids in this yard, lot. When they fired that shot, my cousin had just sent the little five year old little girl to go buy at the shop and she was at the shop while the gun man just passed and lik it pon the outside. We were frightened because we didn’t know where the little girl was. We saw the little girl come and she is only five. Like on weekends and when school is closed it is right out here they play on the side walk. So if they pass through on the bike and lik it like that…”
The shootings which started on Sunday also injured another Victoria Street area resident, Ronnie Blades, he was hit twice in the arm and leg.
Hortense Joseph,
“I really don’t know what is happening, like they are getting crazy. I really don’t like what is happening. I don’t like it because from the time I’ve lived around here, in my whole entire life, we’ve never had a gunshot around here like this. It is coming like the wild wild west. When I sit down on my steps and I hear the gunshots, all I could do is cover my ears. I feel so down in my stomach that I cry because this didn’t happen so I don’t know why it is coming like this.
All I always used to hear is that the south side gets shoots up, I never used to hear about the north side. So I would pray to tell those guys to hold down the gun. I wouldn’t like no gunshot around here.
I would really want to tell the guys with the guns to just hold down the gun. Put it down, it is not necessary because they are killing out their own black man and we are only a little handful. And when they kill out the black man now, who will stand. Nobody will stand.”
Bernard Bailey,
“I say that is lone fool because we are just killing one another on lone fool. Right now I am fighting hard to get my life together right now. I been there, done that so I just want to get out of the game but it looks like it is a war they want. They could have killed my little daughter last night if my daughter was here. That is not making no sense.”
Stephanie Davis,
“I don’t know why those boys don’t stop this because a lot of children live around here and a lot of people were out here. Innocent people could have gotten hurt and I could have lost my life just like that.”
Area residents are asking for a heightened police presence to help calm the storm that they say is raging in their neighbourhood.
Bernard Bailey,
“I see two policeman this morning but they came out here for a five, ten minutes and I haven’t seen them from then yet. Only five to ten minutes we saw them walk from there and stood up here for a fifteen minutes and they went that way. From then they haven’t come back yet. I just passed Victoria Street and I didn’t see no policeman down so neither. Put out some more force.
I give my little trouble but I would rather they put out more policemen. Push them out. The way those boys are riding out with those guns everyday and more those boys aren’t working. If they were working, they would be busting their guns on the street.”
Stephanie Davis,
“I would want them to stop this because it is not making any sense. Innocent people are getting hurt for nothing.”
Jacqueline Godwin for 7NEWS.
Police are looking for two men for that shooting. They are Lucius Meyers and another young man named Cyril.
