In our headline story we told you about the shooting of Steven Buckley near the Wilt Cumberbatch field. We also told you that police may have mixed up the truck he was in with another that they were pursuing. That's because last night witnessed a number of shootings in that part of town. The first occurred around 7:00 when 21-year-old Mark Vernon was shot. It happened right near the Wilt Cumberbatch field – that same place where Buckley would be shot by police an hour later.
But it's not police who shot Vernon. In fact, police believe that it is a retaliatory shooting against Vernon who has been named and charged in multiple shootings before and is considered by police to be an active target in gang rivalries. Details of his injuries have not been released by police but he was transported to the KHMH.
Vernon got off on a murder charge in 2007 – when the DPP dropped the charges for the killing of Kurlin "Cluck-cluck" Felix.
