Last night we had breaking news on a pair of late evening shootings in the city. Well, turns out that it wasn't a pair, it was a trio of shootings. Fortunately none of them were fatal - but like all violent crime they are still worrying - because at least one of the victims - were not the intended targets.
Monica Bodden tells us what all happened in the sudden surge of gun play:..
Monica Bodden Reporting
Family members and friends of 21 year old Mark Vernon gathered outside the Emergency ward at the KHMH - late yesterday evening. His mother - holding his x-ray in her hands - showing everyone where the bullet was lodged…minutes after- the young man - limping on one leg, came through the hospital door.
With a bandage on his right foot - he shows a relative where he was shot. The shooting happened around 5:40 yesterday evening.
Vernon, better known as Pele -was standing on the basketball court located on the Wilt Cumberbatch Field behind Faber Road - along with a student, Jared Sankey - when a man who was walking from the direction of Ross Penn Road fired a shot. Both Vernon and Sankey were hit in the right leg.
From what we gathered on the scene, the bullet in Vernon's foot was lodged at a risky area and doctors were hesitant in trying to remove it last night - since it can cause the young man to be paralyzed.
And while we were there at the Emergency ward - another police vehicle pulled up with a woman inside - suffering from a gunshot wound to her right thigh…
She was being escorted by police officers. She was put in a wheel chair and wheeled away inside the emergency ward. She was later identified as Honduran National - Amy Avila.
This shooting happened around 6:30 yesterday evening. Avila was walking on Cleghorn Street when she was shot by a gunman on a bicycle.
She wasn't the intended target of last night's shooting. According to police it was Mark Middleton - who was walking on Cleghorn Street towards Douglas Jones - when the shooter - described as a dread man in a white shirt -rode up from behind. Middleton was not hit…
Today a resident of Cleghorn Street told us what she recalled last night. She asked to appear off camera.
Resident of Cleghorn
"Last night I was in my granny house, going into the refridge and all that I heard was 'pow', my baby was on the verandah and he said mommy pop shot, so I run outside because my uncle and his friend was outside and when I look I saw them in the drain, the man ride off and the boy that was on the ground run, but he never get shot."
According to this resident -she heard 5 shots ring out.
Resident of Cleghorn
"We heard 5 shots around here that was fired last night but one thing the neighbor up the street call the police when the boy run in her yard, so the police came quick."
Monica Bodden
"That was the one who escape the bullet? the target that run in her yard?"
Resident of Cleghorn
"Yes, that's was the target that run in her yard, he escape the bullet. I don't know how he do it, maybe God was with him because all of the bullets miss him."
And in this seemingly quiet neighborhood - last night's shooting came as a surprise to everyone.
Resident of Cleghorn
"Things like that does not really happen around here. I grow up around here and to see my baby hollered that pop shot was bursting it was surprising, so when I first hear it, I just brush it off and say that it must be pop shot but when I heard the rest of shots I had to come out because people are on the street out here walking like its normal. Nothing like that really happen around this area before."
Monica Bodden
"This was like after 6?"
Resident of Cleghorn
"Yeah this was like around 10 past 6."
As we noted last night, Mark Vernon was shot in that same general area 8 months ago - and got off a murder charge for Curlin "Cluck Cluck" Felix in 2007.
Police have not made any arrests in those shootings…
