‘Stop killing our future’, says CPFSA head

The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) and the Ministry of Education and Youth are calling for an end to the senseless violence against children following a shooting in Cherry Tree Lane, Four Paths, Clarendon, on Sunday night.

Eight persons, including an eight-year-old boy were killed, while the youngster's brother is left nursing a gunshot wound.

"We have to put an end to this senseless violence; stop killing our future," said CEO of the CPFSA Laurette Adams-Thomas.

"Now a mother is left grieving the loss of one child, while having to find the strength to continue to nurse her toddler back to health." Adams-Thomas opined that crimes like these do not only affect the victims, but also their families.

"Parents should be allowed to watch their children grow up. Children shouldn't have to suffer the grief that comes with losing a sibling. The family is the foundation of society, and when we hurt and kill our children, we not only demolish that foundation, but we fracture our society at its core," she said.

Adams-Thomas also stated that the CPFSA and the Ministry of Education and Youth are providing necessary support to the distraught mother of the two boys.

"Our first responders' team met with the grieving mother and provided her with on-the-spot grief counselling. She and her family were also referred to the Ministry of Justice's Victim's Services Division for additional counselling," she said.