Salt Spring man slain in front of kids
Published:Tuesday | June 1, 2021 | 12:15 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Gunmen snuffed out the life of a 26-year-old man in full view of three children in Salt Spring, St James, on Monday, spraying him with bullets during a brazen daylight home attack.
The deceased has been identified as Daniel McDuffus, also known as ‘Don’, a supermarket attendant of Church Lane in the Meggie Top section of Salt Spring.
Garnett Nicholson, the deceased’s father-in-law, told The Gleaner that McDuffus’ death has come as a huge blow.
“Him is like a father to mi daughter three children dem, and di children dem did deh right beside him inna the house, when dem shoot him up,” said Nicholson. “The children dem traumatised … . Is di first dem experience such a wicked act, and dem did very close to ‘Don’ because he tek care a dem very well.”
Nicholson said that he was about to head over to McDuffus’ house when he heard gunfire.
“At first, mi hear dem out a di road. Den mi hear dem inna di lane. A little after dat, mi daughter come ask mi seh if mi don’t know seh dem shoot up Don,” Nicholson said, adding that he ran over to the house immediately to find a blood-covered McDuffus lying beside the bed with the children next to him, staring in shock.
According to police reports, shortly after 9 a.m, a group of heavily armed men invaded a section of Meggie Top and opened fire at residents and several premises. They then walked to Church Lane, where they shot McDuffus inside the small board dwelling house.
McDuffus was transported to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A police source told The Gleaner that based on information they have gathered, the shooting is linked to an ongoing gang feud in the community.
The Salt Spring murder comes sharply on the heels of another deadly shooting incident in Mount Salem community, which is still under the zone of special operations security initiative.
Reports are that about 8:25 p.m. on Sunday, 23-year-old Daniel ‘College Man’ Lawrence, of a Clarke Street address, got into an argument with another man. During the argument, the man brandished a firearm and opened fire at Lawrence, killing him on the spot.
The killings bring to 72 the number of persons murdered in St James since the start of the year.