Mt Salem man killed in front of kid at basic school
Published:Thursday | November 7, 2019 | 12:00 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A basic school in one of the safest communities of crime-wracked St James was sent into panic and weeping yesterday as an infant girl watched helplessly as her father was gunned down in front of her shortly after 8 a.m.
Minutes after dropping off their children at the Cornwall Gardens Basic School in Mt Salem yesterday morning, several parents rushed back to pick up traumatised students.
Ricardo ‘Al’ Forbes, 37, a higgler of Mount Salem and Granville in the parish, died at hospital after being shot by a lone attacker.
Mount Salem is home to the nation’s first zone of special operations, a joint-forces security crackdown implemented two years ago.
As he returned to his vehicle, Forbes was approached by a hoodie-wearing man who shot him multiple times in the clear view of his daughter, girlfriend, and other onlookers. The killer then fled.
“Mi an’ mi sister did a walk a come wid our children when wi hear di gunshot ... . Wi si people start a run from the school gate,” said a resident, who was caught up in the chaos that ensued.
National Security Minister Horace Chang, who is member of parliament for St James North West, decried the violence as “painful and tragic”. He sought to reassure residents that the police would make operational adjustments to combat the parishwide trend in killings.
Administrators decided to scrap classes for the day.
“The situation was not conducive to having class because many of the children were frightened by the incident, so we allowed them to return home with the parents,” a teacher told The Gleaner.
The attack in Mt Salem came sharply on the heels of another shooting incident in which two JUTA tour bus operators were shot and injured along Sunset Boulevard, adjacent to the Sangster International Airport, in the resort city.
In that incident, which occurred shortly after 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the two men were approached by a gunman, who opened fire on them.
St James, which is one of six parishes currently under a state of emergency, has recorded 128 homicides so far this year, up approximately 40 per cent year on year.