Postby ilove3 » August 3rd, 2013, 12:27 am
Men gunned down
By ALEXANDER BRUZUAL Saturday, August 3 2013
A FATHER of eight was one of two men who were brutally gunned down in Santa Cruz on Thursday night, bringing the national murder rate up yesterday to 214.
Police reported at about 11.20 pm, 36-year-old Gregory “Jason”Charles aka “Jamdown” was liming at a garage outside his Pipiol Street, Santa Cruz home with his friend Sherwin “Dan” Cole, 37, who lived nearby along Bass Street.
Two men, police said, are believed to have approached the limers from the back entrance of Charles’ home, which runs along nearby properties. The intruders opened gunfire on Charles and Cole, hitting them numerous times about their heads and upper body.
The gunfire continued even as both men slumped to the ground, bullets penetrating their bodies long after they had stopped moving. The gunmen later escaped on foot along Pipiol Road and along the yards of nearby residents.
The police were called in and a party of officers from the Santa Cruz Police Station, Morvant CID, North Eastern Division Task Force and the Homicide Investigations Bureau visited the scene. Crime scene investigators cordoned off the area and according to police sources, over 70 spent bullet shells were found at the scene.
When Newsday visited the scene yesterday, relatives of Charles said they were at a loss as to why the father of eight was killed in such a brutal manner. “He was such a kind and loving person. You can ask anybody in this area. He did so much for his community and was friendly to everyone he met.
“He had his faults yes, but generally he was a kind and caring person and a loving father. He had eight children. The youngest is about one-year and the oldest is 16. He was such a loving person to his family and children.
“He had his run-ins with the law I won’t stand here and say that he was perfect. But who is? Does anyone deserve to be executed, to be gunned down in the road like a dog? He did not deserve this kind of death,” stated a female relative who asked that her name not be used.
The woman said she herself narrowly escaped being shot as she had arrived at her home only minutes before the two men were executed. “I had just reached home. I saw Jason and Dan sitting on the chairs outside talking and liming. We told each other good night and I walked inside. Less than a minute later, I heard gunshots and more gunshots coming from the garage. Non stop gunshots.
“I ducked for cover because I thought the bullets would riddle the house because it sounded so nearby. I recalled that while lying on the ground I thought of Jason and Dan who were outside and a sadness touched my heart. When I looked outside, after the shooting ended, all I saw was blood and bits of flesh and bone all over. Both men were dead,” she said.
Residents said Cole recently moved into the Cantaro Village community with his wife and was staying at a house along Bass Street in Santa Cruz. However, when Newsday visited the area yesterday, no one was at home. A motive has not been established for the murders and no arrests have been made. Investigations are continuing.
NEWSDAY
