With a cigarette clenched in trembling fingers, a survivor of the Ed Bush stadium shooting ran his free hand across the scar tissue of a narrow flesh wound on the side of his neck.
Just over two weeks after the terrifying ordeal, his physical wounds are starting to heal.
The mental scars might take longer.
“I never thought that my life would ever be at risk at a football game,” he told the Cayman Compass in an interview this week.
The man was one of seven individuals who were injured on the night of 25 Feb., when an unknown gunman, crouching behind an overgrown hedge, opened fire on a group of supporters watching a Premier League football game.
“All I can remember is hearing the first couple of shots and seeing one person drop to the ground. Then it clicked, someone is shooting at us, [expletive] someone is shooting at me,” he said.
“I could see was people falling around me while trying to get away, and I remember thinking [expletive], I’m dead, oh [expletive] I’m dead.”
The survivor was among a group of around 25 people watching the match at the far end of the stadium when the gunman opened fire. It wasn’t until after he had fled the mayhem that he realised he had been shot.
“I got to the car and I felt the stinging sensation and saw the blood on my shirt,” he said.
Despite his initial fear that he was a target, he now believes he was “simply in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
The victim added, “My grandmother used to tell me to ‘Be careful of the people you hang out with’, but I always thought as long as I wasn’t at some bar or doing something illegal, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything like that.
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and who would have thought that being at a football match would be a place where you could get caught up and shot at by someone you don’t know, and especially since you [weren’t] even the [expletive] target.”
News of the shooting swiftly spread to every corner of Cayman and beyond, making regional and global headlines.
Since then, the panic felt by the community has subsided, leaving in its place frustration and concern with the sustained level of gun crime.
“To say that I don’t want to know who did this, would be a lie,” said the survivor, “Man, I hope police get them quick, ‘cause this is the kinda thing that makes people want to take the law into their own hands, and I can tell you right now I want justice.”
In the wake of the shooting, police have arrested three suspects, each on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and attempted murder. They have all been released on bail, to the dismay of many in the community.
However, Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton, in a statement informing the public of the suspects’ release, stated that each person was bailed on strict conditions, in line with the police and bail laws, as investigations continue.
While the vast majority of the people in the community do not know who the suspects are, a select few do, and some have expressed fears for their safety.
‘Ripple signals’ in the criminal community
From behind the safety of her half-cracked front door, one West Bay resident who lives a stone’s throw away from the home of one of the suspects told the Compass that police activity, no matter the intention, has real-world implications for the people in the community.
“I know they are doing their job by arresting these suspects, and it is the right thing to do,” said the resident, whose identity is not being released by the Compass.
“But when they make these arrests, the regular people don’t know who they are, but the criminals they know… and it’s like ripples that get sent out in that criminal community, saying police are looking at that one so it must be him.”
She added that the subsequent fallout could be tit-for-tat shootings, and, potentially, more innocent people injured or killed.
Since the start of the year, police have reported that they responded to seven instances where shots were fired, including the Ed Bush Stadium shooting. There is nothing released by police or criminal sources to demonstrate whether they were linked to the incident or not.
Police have, however, stated that the Ed Bush incident was a targeted gang-related shooting.
“Now you think about it, if you were a criminal and you heard that they got bail, you would say to yourself, well, now is the time to go get them, before police arrest them again,” said the resident.
Government has offered a $200,000 reward for any information that could lead to the successful arrest and/or prosecution of the wanted suspects. In addition, Cayman Crime Stoppers has offered up to a $50,000 reward toward solving the crime.
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