Relatives of shot Carenage boy call for witnesses

JUDE Joseph, the 12-year-old boy who was wounded in a Carenage shooting on Wednesday, remained in critical condition up to press time yesterday.

While police are investigating the shooting, relatives of the boy are calling for residents to step forward and help police catch the shooters.

“If someone saw something, they are supposed to come forward that they saw this and give the police information.

“This is a senseless shooting.

“How could you watch a little 12-year-old and open fire on him with an AR-15?” said one relatives of the wounded boy.

Newsday was told family members visited Joseph yesterday and prayed for him and spoke to him, although he was in an induced coma.

“Doctors told us to speak to him because he can still hear us, even though he is too sedated to talk,” said another relative. “We are asking for help from people in the community. It could have been anyone that was shot. If he dies, will nothing come of this?”

One relative said the reason why no one is coming forward is because the entire community is living in fear of gunmen.

“People are injecting fear in other people so they are afraid to come out and say anything. Just the other day gunmen shot up a house just two minutes after police passed. People are looking at that and thinking that they don’t care about police.”

On Wednesday at about 9.30 pm Joseph was sitting with another shooting victim, Kervin Sinette, with other residents, when gunmen approached and began spraying the streets with bullets.

Joseph was shot in the back, while Sinette was shot in the ankle, abdomen and the left side of his chest.

Investigations are ongoing.