By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE mothers of two men who were shot and killed during a triple homicide in Fort Fincastle on Friday night both said they are struggling to come to terms with their sons’ brutal deaths.

Police said they received reports of the shooting, which claimed the lives of three young men, shortly after 7pm.

They said when they arrived on Prison Lane, they found three men on a porch of a residence suffering from gunshot wounds. Emergency Medical Services were called to the scene and, following their examination, pronounced two of the men dead. While the third man was taken to the hospital and initially reported to be in stable condition, police confirmed yesterday that he later died from his injuries.

When he spoke to reporters at the scene on Friday, Assistant Superintendent of Police Audley Peters said initial investigations revealed a “group of persons were on a porch in Prison Lane, when two suspects armed with firearms discharged the weapons in their direction fatally injuring two and causing one to receive injuries about his lower extremities.” He said the two gunmen then fled the scene on foot.

While officers have not released the names of the victims, family members say the two men who died on the scene were Gromyko “Yellow” Symonette, 23, and Kenneth Eulin Jr, 39.

Symonette’s mother, Monalisa Lee, told The Tribune that Mr Symonette’s relatives were devastated and distraught over his death.

“Me and my family was home and some little boys who live through the corner was up on the hill and they heard some gunshots and when they ran to see, they saw it was my son. So, they come run down the hill calling my name saying ‘Yellow get shoot,’” she said. “We still can’t believe it. He has a four-year-old child. I haven’t seen her yet but they tell me she can’t stop crying.”

 Ms Lee said her son, who was employed as a lifeguard at a popular hotel, was a “charming, jokey person, who loved to have fun”. She also said he and his sister were her only children and the two of them were practically inseparable.

 “He was a fun person and he liked to kid and joke around so his presence will be missed a lot,” she said. “It’s really rough right now and my daughter isn’t doing too well either. A few people told me that some people were saying negative stuff about my son, but they are people from the neighbourhood who disliked him because he was a striving young man. I grow my children up striving to get what they want out of life and he always had a job. He was always working to take care of himself and people didn’t like that...but I’d like for them to stop with the negative talk because they don’t know my son.”

 Yesterday, Eulin Jr’s mother, Lori Francis, also spoke highly of her son’s character.

“Kenny was a loving, friendly person and he never been in the police’s hands, ever,” she told this newspaper. “My son was always kind and caring and he helped anybody who he could help.”

 Mrs Francis said she lives on one of the Family Islands and learned about her son’s death after receiving phone calls from relatives in New Providence. She said her son was a jack-of-all-trades who worked hard for himself and his loved ones.

“Everybody’s been calling me but the family isn’t holding up well. We are not doing well at all. My son was a good person, even the neighbours could tell you how good and nice he was. He left behind two children; one is 17-years-old and the next one is four-years-old. Now both of them are girls without a father.”

On Friday, ASP Peters said officers were “unable to say” whether the shooting was gang related. He also said while retaliation is a “possibility”, the police force is “ready to respond.”

 “Officers are on the ground and we could say conclusively that we were present as soon as we received the reports,” he said. “We’re appealing to members of this community who may have any information in regards to this incident to contact the police department at 502-9991/2. Additionally, I ask the community or individuals in the country, in particular New Providence, who are aware of persons in possession of firearms to report them to the police.”

 ASP Peters said officers were “encouraged” lately due to the number of people who were arrested for being in possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition. He urged the public to “continue to do their part” in contributing to the “eradication” of firearms from the streets so that local communities can be safe.

 “It’s a sad situation that two persons could walk up on a gathering that were enjoying their Friday evening and now we have here two individuals who have succumbed to injuries as a result of the use of firearms,” he said.

“... I’ll go further to say that parents should be concerned in the rearing of their children (and) community members should be concerned in the rearing of the children of their neighbours, because any incident that is a misdemeanour, it grows from misdemeanours and becomes felonies. And so we can nip these attitudes, actions and behaviours in the bud (with the) community raising our children so we could see better behaviour from our citizenry; in particular our young men.”