Tonight, 33-year-old Tanesha Banner is fighting for her life inside the ICU at the KHMH after she was shot to the head late last night. She was in the passenger's seat of a Chevy Equinox, traveling on the Burrell Boom Road, when someone inside a red SUV opened fire on them. The three occupants of the Equinox were hit - including Coastguardsman and former Lance Corporal in the British army, Lee Busano - but Banner is the only one in a critical condition.
And her family is desperately praying for a recovery, especially since she wasn't the target.
But in a twist of events, the gunman who put her in the hospital is now lying in the morgue.
Courtney Menzies has the details - here's here story:
A man is in the morgue and a woman is fighting for her life after a shootout in Burrell Boom last night.
It started sometime after 11:00 as the woman, 33-year-old Tanesha Banner, 35-year-old Coast Guardsman, Lee Busano, and 18-year-old Chesterfield Baptist were leaving an event in the village.
Voice of: Andrea Dominguez, Sister of Shooting Victim
"They were at this dance in Burrell Boom and a fight escalated and they said they took off in their vehicle and when they took off in the vehicle, someone called Lee and he was turning around, same time he was turning around, Chester, the young boy Chester, he forgot his flashlight in Lee's vehicle so Lee was handing Chester the flashlight and when they turned around, that when they saw the other vehicle turn and that's when the fire started to escalate and Lee returned back shots at them."
The shots were being fired from a red SUV by the deceased, Veris Ventura, who had previously had an argument with Busano at the event.
But Busano reacted quickly with his licensed firearm - and shot Ventura in the face - what proved to be a fatal injury.
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Police Press Officer
"We know that Mr Busano and the other occupants of his vehicle were transported to the KHMH where a red SUV arrived a few minutes later with Veris Ventura in it who had serious body injuries, several gunshot wounds. Mr Ventura unfortunately lost his life while undergoing treatment at the KHMH."
And though it was fatal, the police say they're classifying the incident as a death investigation.
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Police Press Officer
"From the eyewitnesses report, it would suggest that initial contact was made by Ventura, unfortunately for Ventura, Mr Busano had a licensed gun on him which he used, so at the completion of the investigation, we will submit the file to the DPP and will be guided from that office as to what, if any charges will be levied. So for now, we can only leave it as a death investigation."
But while the police investigate, Banner is currently in a coma at the KHMH, and her family is waiting at her bedside hoping she'll wake up.
Voice of: Andrea Dominguez, Sister of Shooting Victim
"Last night, well this morning rather, she did her surgery on her brain, it was a successful surgery, so like right now it's just her fighting and she's fighting really hard for her life. She's not giving up and that's the good thing about it."
"She's a mother for one child, Taylon, and I just want her to be strong for him and she's fighting for her son because I talk to her and I tell her, Tan, you got to do this for baby Taylon, you can't give up, Taylon needs you."
"I'm just here talking to her, holding her hand, and rubbing her down, telling her encouraging words, we pray together, I talk to her, I tell her, Tan, we need you, we love you, and I am just praying, I'm praying hard for my sister to wake up, that's all we want right now in life, for my sister…"
But the hardest part for this family is knowing that Banner was an innocent woman caught in a crossfire.
Ventura was well known to police - he was charged for being a member of a gang two years ago, and in 2018 he was charged for murder, but got off after the case was withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.
