A shooting at Andrew Lane, Diego Martin, on Thursday night left two men dead and sent three others to hospital, including the elder brother of one of the deceased men.
Grieving the loss of Decklon Allert even as the family prayed for his injured sibling to pull through yesterday, a close female relative said, “He likes drinking his little puncheon and that is what it was they were doing last night...he and his friends were outside.
“Drinking the puncheon, playing their music and just having a good time, a normal thing for them.”
The self-employed 30-year-old operated a mini-mart along Andrew Drive, Blue Basin, Diego Martin.
Already father to an eight-year-old, Allert was expecting his second child in March.
Police said Allert was part of a group of six men who had been liming at the mini-mart at the corner of Andrew Lane and Blue Basin Road around 10.25 pm, when three men armed with firearms got out a white Suzuki Vitara and opened fire on them.
Apart from Allert, 58-year-old Conrad “Protocol” Sealey, of Waterwheel Road, Diego Martin, was also killed.
Among the injured were Allert’s brother Dexter Allert, 33; Jamaley Sandy, 32; Shakeemi Small, 29; and Shanado Calderon, 30. The four injured men were said to be in a stable condition at hospital up to last night.
Crime scene investigators recovered eight 7.62; 19 5.56; and 18 spent 9mm shell casings at the scene.
Speaking with reporters at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, grieving relatives questioned why this had happened.
“We were asking that this morning, wondering what he did to deserve the way that they killed him.
“It was very brutal, it was brutal...just brutal. He was a person of small stature. He was slim and small. He stood no chance of survival, none,” a female relative said.
She repeated, “I just want to know what my brother did to deserve what he get. Why? That’s what I need to know. Why? Why?”
They said Allert’s mother had been distraught since the shooting. She (sister) said her last interaction with him was when he dropped her off at the nail technician.
Asked how she felt about the crime situation and the gun violence which continued to claim innocent lives, the teary woman said, “It is kinda hard to think about until it reach home. You see what other people’s relatives are going through, but when you reach home, you know exactly what they are feeling.”
She said she did not see the situation improving soon either.
“Right now, I don’t think I have any hope it’s going to improve any time soon. It could...but I don’t think it would improve anytime soon.”
Asked if she wanted to send a message to those picking up guns, she answered, “I would ask them if they know what war they fighting for, and if they realise it’s all senseless.
“Meanwhile, people crying and it’s only tears, tears on this earth, tears on this nation. Mothers, sisters, brothers, everybody, grandparents, everybody...just tears. They need to re-evaluate their lives and see it is not working, it’s not.”