Derek Achong
Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
The grandmother of a 16-year-old boy, who was accidentally shot and killed by his 15-year-old cousin while they were filming themselves playing with a firearm they found on Friday, is warning against the unchecked use of social media by children.
Patricia Pierre gave the warning yesterday hours after her grandson Jeremiah Outram, of Chameleon Avenue, La Horquetta, Arima, died following the incident.
“This social media. I does call it madness because it sending them (children) mad,” she said. “Stop this social media and TikTok. Is that social media that have my grandson dead today.”
Outram, a student of Five Rivers Secondary, was spending a few days at Pierre’s home at De Gannes and Jawahir Road in Cunaripo, where she lives with her husband, one of her sons, and his four children.
Around 3.45 pm, Outram and two of his cousins reportedly found a gun in a clothes basket and began playing with it while filming a live social media video.
While his female cousin was holding the firearm, it accidentally discharged and Outram was shot in his head.
She reportedly contacted the police and Outram was rushed to the Sangre Grande District Hospital. He died around 6 pm while undergoing emergency treatment.
A video of the immediate aftermath of the shooting was circulated on social media yesterday. It showed a black screen but included audio of relatives frantically responding to the shooting and contacting the police.
Pierre initially accompanied the teen, who was taken into police custody.
In an interview at her vegetable shed located a short distance from her modest home, Pierre said she was not home at the time and the children were being supervised by Outram’s mother.
“His mother was washing right outside and they was inside doing the live. She (the mother) said she heard the bawling and she ran inside where she find him on the ground,” she said.
Pierre said her granddaughter was in a state of shock immediately following the incident.
“She ran down the hill and start to move like a mad woman,” she recalled.
She noted that her granddaughter fully cooperated with the police despite being severely traumatised.
“She has asthma and had two seizures last night. They (she and her parents) still up there,” Pierre said.
Her granddaughter’s young siblings witnessed the incident and were also traumatised, she added.
“Last night the little one jumped out of his sleep bawling. The next one, who is 11, not bawling, but water just running out of his eyes,” she said.
The family was promised counselling by the T&T Police Service (TTPS) Victim and Witness Support Unit.
Pierre could not say how and where the teens found the gun, who it belonged to or if it was inside her home.
“I can’t say anything about no gun. That is a show-off thing, they got the gun and start to show off. But, I don’t know nothing about that,” she said.
She also said that she had no indication that Outram was involved in crime.
“Remember, he was not living with me so I would not go so far. What I saying, is what I know,” she said.
She described her grandson as a quiet boy.
“He always quiet and on his phone or laptop,” she said.
“One thing I like about him, he liked adventures. He always liked to be doing something or making something. He always making a movie or video.”
She said her children shared a close relationship.
“The children real close. They grow up together,” she said.
Pierre commended the police officers who responded for their professionalism and compassion.
“I must say the Sangre Grande Police treated us good. They treat her good and they bear with her. I would compliment them for that,” she said.
She advised children to immediately confide in their parents when confronted with difficult or unfamiliar situations: “Children if you find something, take it and bring it to your parents.”
Detectives from Region Two Homicide Bureau of Investigations and the Sangre Grande CID are continuing investigations.
Law enforcement consultant and firearm subject matter expert Paul-Daniel Nahous said the unfortunate case emphasised the need for responsible gun ownership and storage even for the holders of illegal firearms.
“In terms of this, I don’t know if it’s criminal, in terms of whether it is a gang member or poacher or if it’s someone who got an illegal firearm to protect themselves which is still illegal. I think it is a reminder though for even legal firearm holders and everyone else to keep dangerous items such as that away for your children and secured,” Nahous said.
“I’m sorry this happened but it highlights how widespread illegal firearms are in T&T.”
