Bullet misses man’s heart

A 62-year-old man is feeling 'lucky' after he was shot twice at close range by assailants on Saturday, one of the bullets just missing his heart.

According to police reports, sometime after 11 a.m. on Saturday, there was a drive-by shooting in the Mahoe Drive area in Kingston 11 in which a labourer was shot and injured by unknown assailants.

"The preliminary information that we have is that the complainant was standing along the mentioned location when a grey motor car, at this time, we're not sure of the make or model, drove up and stopped in this vicinity. Persons from inside of the car opened fire on the complainant, hitting him in the upper body. He was later admitted to the hospital," said Senior Superintendent Kirk Ricketts, head of the St Andrew South Police Division.

"At this time we believe that this is a continuation in a series of gang-related incidents that have been impacting the Cockburn Pen community over the last three or so weeks," he added. Ricketts said that investigators have begun to identify some of the violence producers who are the catalyst for the most recent flare-up in the space.

The victim's sister went to see him on Sunday morning and said he was the one who signalled her when she was looking for him in hospital.

"The doctor say him lucky because it so close to him heart and him get the next one somewhere here so," she said pointing at the groin area. "Him say the one weh shot him, after him fire the two first shot and about fi fire the third one, the gun stick, and him say him try fi hold on pon him mask. That's when him [the assailant] jump back in the car." The woman said that her brother was on his way to a betting shop when he encountered his attackers.

"Is a race horse man, Saturday morning time a fi him thing that," she said. "Him do him day's work when him get it and him go him betting shop. He is not a bad person. Mi just a leave it at the altar and leave it to God," she said.