By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

CHILDHOOD friends Markentash Saintil and Eden Louis had just finished eating KFC when a burst of gunfire tore through their friend’s neighbourhood on Saturday, killing both and leaving five others injured.

The attack by two suspects armed with a high-powered rifle and a handgun was one of two deadly shootings over the weekend, each leaving heartbroken families desperate for answers and justice. The brother of one of the victims was also shot in the incident — and spoke to The Tribune yesterday about the attack.

The teenagers’ deaths came as both were preparing to celebrate upcoming birthdays — Saintil’s 20th on August 13 and Louis’ 19th on October 21.

Police suspect the incident may have been gang-related but could not confirm who the intended targets were. Sources told The Tribune that some victims are suspected of having connections to the Haitian Zoe Pound gang. Two members of a rival gang are being sought by police. 

“Certainly, we are in the infancy stages of this investigation,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Anton Rahming said at the scene of the incident. “We will be looking into the matter. We will spend our efforts.”

According to police, a group of people was sitting next to a car on Robertha Drive, Ridgeland Park, when gunmen pulled up and opened fire.

Louis, 18, who was out on bail for stealing offences, and 19-year-old Saintil, died at the scene, while five others aged 16 to 25 — including one also out on bail — were hospitalised with gunshot wounds.

Saintil’s brother, Widnyi, was released from hospital yesterday. The condition of the other victims remains unknown.

Widnyi — who was shot in the wrist — is puzzled by the motive behind the violence.

The 25-year-old said the group had been hanging out outside a friend’s home in the area moments before the chaos.

Saintil sat in the driver’s seat of a parked car chatting with his brother outside, while Louis stood nearby with several others.

Moments later, horror struck as a silver Nissan Cube sped down the road, and someone jumped out, opening fire.

“All of us break off running,” Widnyi told The Tribune, hours after being released from hospital yesterday. “I didn’t even know that I got hit. I went in the backyard, and I stand in the backyard.”

When the gunfire stopped, Widnyi rushed back to the car — only to find his worst fears confirmed.

“I gone to see if my brother was alive and I was calling his name but he wasn’t even moving,” he said. 

Louis was found lying lifeless nearby after being shot while trying to flee the hail of gunfire.

His mother was inconsolable at the scene on Saturday, screaming in Creole with her arms outstretched and her head pressed to the ground.

When morticians moved to remove her son’s body, she ran past the crime tape and later fainted, prompting two men to carry her away.

Her husband, Renauld Louis, told The Tribune the family is distraught, describing his son, a recent graduate, as a “good boy”.

He had tried to get him hired at his job, where he usually worked during the summers, but without a passport, Louis couldn’t take the position.

“My bad luck is this year, the company don’t want to take him without a passport,” he said, “because he applied for his citizenship but didn’t get his passport yet.”

On the day of the shooting, the father-of-four recalled how two young men had visited their home earlier, asking for Louis. His wife told them he was sleeping and they left, only to return later.

The next time, Louis was awake and went outside to speak with them.

“When he woke up, my wife say, ‘you just wake up, you ain’t brush your teeth yet. I gone cook something for you. Come, come, eat the food, you ain’t brush your teeth yet.”

Louis replied: “Mummy, I coming. I just going in the front there. I ain’t going far.”

A few minutes later, Louis’ mother heard gunshots ringing and knew her son had been killed.

Mr Louis said he knew his son had been charged in the past but believed it was a case of mistaken identity.

For Widnyi, who said he never had any run ins with the law, it was his first time being caught in a shooting.

He admitted his brother once faced a stealing charge, but said it was dismissed.

“He said he was going to buy me a pair of tennis and some pair of jeans,” Widnyi recalled of their final conversation.

The two had been planning to move to another island for work, eager for a fresh start.

Police have not made any arrests but say they will not rest until those responsible are brought before the courts.

The shooting — one of the most violent attacks in the country’s history — occurred hours before police responded to a second fatal shooting near Superwash on Nassau Street. 

According to reports, a man and a woman were exiting the wash house and were about to enter a vehicle when a lone gunman approached and fired shots, fatally wounding the man. 

The victim is believed to be in his early 30s.

These latest killings have pushed the country’s murder count to 56 for the year, according to The Tribune’s records.

    Photo: Dante Carrer/Tribune Staff
  

   Eden Louis

   Markentash Sain