Tonight 19 year old Ahmad Nah remains on life support in the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. He is the young man from Roaring Creek Village we told you about last night who was accidentally shot with a pellet gun on Sunday by a 12 year old girl. Doctors have given him a less than a 5 percent chance of surviving. That is slim, but it represents at least some hope and that is just what his family is clinging to tonight. Keith Swift has the update.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Doctors say the pellet is lodged in Ahmaad Nah’s brain.
Dr. Bernard Bulwer, Chief of Medical Staff – KHMH
“It has injured the brain. There is a significant amount of swelling. Right now he is being intubated, he is sedated and he is getting treatment to reduce some of the swelling on his brain. The hope is to see how he does even though they don’t hold much hope. I haven’t seen the CT images myself
but it did injure the brain and the exact location I can’t say.”
Keith Swift,
“So right now it is a just wait and see approach?”
Dr. Bernard Bulwer,
“Supportive management, we’ve seen patients in worse conditions improve so the saying is do your best and God does the rest.”
And that is the hope his father Theodore Nah is holding onto.
Theodore Nah, Father
“To me there is a little improvement and I hope for the best because as we say prayers move mountains and I am asking the Belizean public to have him in prayer. His name is Ahmaad Nah.”
Keith Swift,
“You said this morning you moved his
eyes.”
Theodore Nah,
“Yes this morning but I got no response but as the doctor said the medication will do its work.”
Keith Swift,
“How difficult is it waiting for word to find out what will happen?”
Theodore Nah,
“We take it a day at a time and see where we go from there.”
Nah is still unsure how his son got shot and by whom.
Theodore Nah,
“Still I haven’t gotten concrete evidence about what exactly transpired.”
Keith Swift,
“But you assume it was an accident?”
Theodore Nah,
“Well we will leave it at that.”
Ahmad Nah was shot with a pellet gun. More than likely it was a rifle but pellet guns come in all shapes and sizes. This in particular is a 22 calibre pistol which uses these point 22 milimeter pellets. Now you or I can walk into any store that sells pellet guns and buy it over the counter without a gun license.
Douglas Hyde, Supports Ban on Toy Guns
“They fall under the firearm and so literally there are stores or
businesses that are given licenses to sell these things so really from the store standpoint they are legal but you as a person needs to get a license to carry such things.”
Keith Swift,
“So anybody, any age can walk into a store and buy a pellet gun?”
Douglas Hyde,
“I think the law specifies an age of where persons can get license for firearm whether they be imitation or not. But I guess the plastic toy guns is a next story. These pellet guns are definitely something that we have to revisit and discuss how we approach it.”
And Hyde says that might include a ban or a limit of access to pellet guns.
Douglas Hyde,
“My personal view is definitely I am one of those against the whole idea of imitation firearms and I totally support the idea of banning these toy guns or imitation firearms which include plastic guns or pellet guns or stuff like that.
We have to revisit the whole Firearms Act because it is there, I think we need to make sure the law is enforced and even revisit the whole idea of banning it, banning the whole imitation firearms because it is not something helpful anyway and if we’re talking about reducing the whole area of crime and violence and majority of these criminals are using firearms then let us find ways to decrease these incidents.”
The official police report issued today states that nah was at a house in Camalote visiting friends when the accidental shooting occurred. No mention is made of the 12 year old shooter.
Some points to clarify are that pellet guns are legal in Belize and you don’t need a license to carry one. The stores that do however sell pellet guns say they use their discretion and don’t sell the guns to minors. In the Police press release, they issued a reminder about the dangers of pellet guns and called on parents to exercise similar security measures.
We also spoke to a few gun enthusiasts today and all were in favour of some regulation because according to them – a gun in the hand of anyone is dangerous. They however warn against any “knee jerk reaction” since according to one of the gun owners we spoke to – pellet guns or what are called air guns are nothing new.
In England you have to be over 18 to purchase a pellet gun and over 14 to own one. Again in Belize there is no regulation governing the sale or use of pellet guns.
