Retracing the steps of the football stadium shooter

Under the cover of nightfall on Sunday, an unknown gunman trekked through a dusty cow pasture over thickets and shrubs to the boundaries of the Ed Bush Stadium.

From behind a thin hedge of overgrown vegetation, he apparently ambushed his target – indiscriminately opening fire on a group of 20 to 25 individuals, hitting at least seven.

As the crowds at the Premier League game scattered in panic, the shooter disappeared.

But how did he get in and out of a crowded stadium to commit the heinous crime seemingly undetected?

The Cayman Compass attempted to answer that question by retracing the likely route outlined by police.

Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton told the media Monday that inquiries were focusing on a piece of pasture land adjacent to the Ed Bush Stadium as the most likely entry and exit point.

He did not specify the exact route the shooter had taken, but said police’s working theory was that the person would have had to know the area extremely well.

Walton said the “investigative hypothesis” was that the shooter had crossed the adjacent field and opened fire on the group with the intent of targeting one or two specific individuals, but with reckless disregard for who else was hurt in the process.

As of 9pm Wednesday, the first 72 hours of the manhunt had elapsed with no arrest having been made.

The Compass visited the area Tuesday and found a handful of fields, crisscrossed by barbed wire bordering the stadium.

A cow pasture backs on to some wooden church buildings, off Captains Joe and Osbert Road, where people raise chickens and rabbits, as dogs on long leashes keep watch.

It was difficult to cross unnoticed through this patch to reach the barbed wire fence that would take you to a field adjacent to the stadium. 

People in the area told us they heard the shots on the night and saw two figures hop the fence behind the stadium and disappear into a tree-lined field further north.

A short drive away, we found an easily scalable wrought iron fence backing on to this field from Apple Blossom Gardens – the abandoned government housing estate.

From there, it took under a minute to cross an empty field to the back of the stadium. Footprints were visible in the soft red soil and a football, that had been booted over the high fence behind the goal, was lying amid the gorse bushes.

Here we found a large gap in a barbed wire fence and a short well-trampled path through the undergrowth that emerges inside the stadium – right where the shots seem to have been fired from.

Several spent bullet casings were recovered from this area and it is believed that the gunman emerged from this scrub land and fired at least 10 shots into a group of people standing by the changing rooms.

The walls were pockmarked with what looked like bullet holes and a thick dark stain – possibly blood –  was still visible on the concrete.

As the crowd scattered – one man staggering down the touchline before collapsing in front of the tunnel – the shooter is believed to have quietly exited from where they came.

The point where the shooting occurred was barely inside the stadium, right in the far corner, bordering the adjacent fields. The gunman would have needed to be inside for a few seconds only, if at all.

The group of around 20-25 people that were fired on – including seven who were hit – was standing away from the main crowd close to the corner flag by the white-roofed building in the image above.

When the crackle of gunfire echoed through the stadium, they fled towards the bleachers which are in line with the centre circle. The larger crowd in the bleachers headed towards the car park close to the opposite goal, while the attention of the medics and officials was focused on bringing aid to the victims.

As that was happening, it would seem likely that the shooter slipped back through the undergrowth and into the adjacent field.

It would have taken under a minute to cross to the fence and then into the network of West Bay backroads.

Additional reporting by James Whittaker.