Father killed, son injured in ‘cook shop’ attack

(Jamaica Observer) A man was Monday night shot dead and his teenage son shot and injured when a gunman attacked them in Patrick City, a middle-income community in Kingston.

The Hunts Bay police reported that about 9:25 pm, Courtney Russell, 53, and another man were at a ‘cook shop’ when they were pounced on by an armed man.

It was discovered that Russell had been shot multiple times and the other man injured by a bullet. The police were summoned and they were both taken to hospital where Russell was pronounced dead and the injured man treated. The gunman allegedly escaped in a waiting motor car.

However, Russell’s wife Joan, otherwise known as Miss Donna, told the Jamaica Observer that her husband and her son were shot inside their house.

“About quarter past nine a slim guy came in and say, ‘You have food?’ Mi say, ‘Yes’, but at the same time when he asked if mi have food mi a watch him”.

According to Joan, the man moved towards her but the door separating them was locked.

“If mi tell you the truth, a must jump him jump on the table still to chuck inna the kitchen, and when him a chuck in, mi fling the chopper at him,” she continued.

She said she ran while screaming, “thief”. Joan said, at the time, she did not see her husband Courtney.

“A when mi hear the shot now and mi see [my son] a bleed, mi rush go round and call someone… to see if we could get a taxi,” Joan said. “A when mi go inside mi hear a man say, ‘Police deh here’, and a so the police rush in and take him (Courtney) to hospital and mi neighbour rush with [my son] up a UWI [University Hospital of the West Indies],” she told the Jamaica Observer.

The police are also checking to determine whether the shooting is connected to a recent motor vehicle crash involving one of her employees.

However, Joan is convinced that Monday night’s attack was an attempted robbery.

“The guys who came here last night [Monday], a money them come for ’cause when dem a guh weh, dem a ask fi the money,“she recounted. “After mi fling the chopper at him, mi a duck to find something else to dash on him when him a come through the window and mi a run; so maybe him think say mi take up the money. So a me him a run after and him and Courtney collide in the passage,” she added.

The teenager, who is a university student, was treated and released.

On Wednesday, when the Observer visited the area, an eerie silence hung over the community.

Family friend Junior Howell was in disbelief.