(Barbados Nation) It was as if the football match that ended so abruptly and tragically at Gully Hill in Carrington Village, St Michael, on New Year’s Day had resumed at the Coleridge Street court complex in Bridgetown yesterday.
Cheering, heckling and even swearing, tens of young people crowded the yard of the District “A” Magistrates’ Court to support three young men charged in connection with the shooting death at the football match and at a store on Roebuck Street, Bridgetown, on Christmas Eve. The only thing missing was the players from the opposing football teams.
Before 9 a.m., the casually-dressed onlookers, who also included family and friends of deceased Damien Mitchell, thronged the Coleridge Street complex, but got no further than the arch separating the inner courtyard from the outer section, where they were kept in check by security guards.
This time there were no barricades, but lawmen were also on hand to make sure onlookers kept their distance.
The football tournament came to an abrupt end on New Year’s Night after a shooting incident left one man dead and another fighting for his life. Two other men were also hospitalised with gunshot injuries.
Mitchell was shot in the head after two men opened fire on a group of men watching the annual football tournament on the Victor “Gas” Clarke Playing Field in Carrington Village, St Michael.
An eyewitness told the DAILY NATION that Mitchell was pleading for his life, saying, “Don’t kill me,” before succumbing to his injuries.
