[dropcap]C[/dropcap]astries City, with its increased police surveillance and scheduled clean-ups, is in its earliest transformative stages thanks to the determined efforts of Mayor Peterson D. Francis. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is at war with itself over a healthcare situation that each day assumes a more political dimension. On Tuesday May 29, Matthew Carter (22) and Samuel Walon (21), from Newcastle and Bournemouth, England, respectively, just days before the end of a four-week internship at Victoria Hospital, were readying themselves to unwind at Pensioners Bar, not far from the Castries market. Suddenly the sound of gunfire—on neighbouring Peynier Street—shattered the relaxing atmosphere.
“It was about four in the afternoon,” Samuel recalled several hours later. “We had just sat down. All of a sudden we heard like five big, loud gunshot sounds and we’re, like, ‘That might just be a car backfiring—or firecrackers.’ We weren’t bothered by it. But then there were more similar sounds, this time accompanied by the smell of gun powder. Loads of people were rushing away, then back in the other direction. As the shots rang out, you could kinda see through the back of the bar. I saw someone run past with a gun in the air.”
When the visitors finally ventured outside to see what the ruckus was about, they encountered two injured men, one whom they later learned had been fatally shot, and another on the ground with gunshot wounds to his leg and abdomen. A crowd was at the scene.
“Everyone was just standing around,” said Matthew, “but no one was actually doing anything to assist.”
Samuel added: “We were expecting people to sort of rush in and help. We waited for about ten seconds—it felt longer at the time—and still no-one was helping. With our medical experience, we thought: Okay, we’ve got to do something.”
It had occurred to them that if they did nothing, the injured man might well bleed to death right there on the street surrounded by agitated gawkers.
Samuel elaborated: “This guy was bleeding pretty heavily out of his leg, not so much his abdomen.” Matthew interjected: “We had some cloth which we tied around his leg to stop the bleeding and then I took my vest off to attend to the bleeding from his chest. We didn’t have any bandages or anything.”
Meanwhile, not far away, there was another victim of the same shooting. Explained Matthew: “She was around the corner with more people looking on. But we were dealing with that guy.” Samuel added: “They got whisked off by an ambulance pretty quickly but our guy was last.”
It turns out the injured female was a Grade 4 student from the Vide Bouteille Primary School who was scheduled to sit her Minimum Standard exams the following day. While Matthew and Samuel had not actually set eyes on her, a man who requested anonymity told the STAR: “She got grazed on her right leg, between her thighs. I gave some people my red rag to tie her leg as they tried to stop the bleeding. They went away with my rag. The ambulance took a very long time to come. The girl was crying out for her mother.” The man added, incredibly, that while some were assisting the young girl, her shooters’ car was parked nearby, its engine idling, “like for them to be ready to escape.”
Later, official reports indicated five individuals had been injured. Only one had been pronounced dead by police. And yes, at press time police were investigating what is widely believed to be another “gang-related” incident. The man who had sacrificed his red rag in the best interests of an injured schoolgirl told the STAR: “I heard there was some fight earlier in the day and they had long knives. The fellas ran away but the guys on the block said, ‘It’s those same fellas that came back to Castries with guns.’”
As for the shooting, our informant said the city police had shown up as soon as it started. The two medical interns concurred. They added that the fire department was also present with a fire engine “but they didn’t seem to have First Aid equipment. It was fifteen minutes before someone handed us a bandage.”
Both Matthew and Samuel regretted there was not a paramedic at the scene. “We would have expected the police to have come with a medical bag,” Samuel said. “Matt was running around trying to get one. Eventually someone brought us a bandage from an ambulance. We were happy to help but we are not doctors yet. It would’ve been far better to have someone more qualified at the scene.”
The young men drove with the injured party by ambulance to Victoria Hospital. “The A&E, when we got there, were super-prepped,” said Matthew. “They were ready to receive the casualties. They are really good doctors who are doing a lot with not much by way of resources.”
The STAR has since learned that the man who died in the street was Elton Fontinelle of Morne DuDon, Castries. Reportedly, he was one of two masked individuals involved in Tuesday’s shooting. Fontinelle suffered “multiple gunshots”.
The shooting was one of two this week. On Wednesday, around 5 a.m., a shopkeeper took a bullet in the face. Police say they’re also investigating this latest incident of gun violence.
