Residents of Lower Carter’s Gap, Enterprise, Christ Church, are demanding faster police action after a man was shot and killed in his car on Monday morning while children watched in horror, with bystanders accusing officers of taking nearly an hour to respond.
Police said they received a report around 8:45 a.m. that a male had been shot while sitting in his vehicle.
Fabian Aaron Taylor, 42, of Kendal Hill Park, Christ Church, had just dropped off two children when an assailant approached and fired several gunshots, hitting him.
He was transported by private car to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he later died from his injuries, police said.
But a neighbourhood business owner disputed that timeline of the report, insisting the call was made much earlier and that officers took nearly an hour to arrive, forcing relatives to transport the fatally injured man to hospital in the same vehicle in which he was shot.
She said the incident occurred during a typically busy morning, with several people already on the street.
“I heard about four shots, then the hollering. Kids were probably hollering,” she said, referring to two schoolchildren the victim usually transported to school each morning.
She told Barbados TODAY the man did not live in the area but came daily to take the children to school.
“The girl was there… shots, shots, shots, shots. It was terrible,” she recalled.
According to her, the victim arrived in the area around 8 a.m. and turned onto the road near another shop before parking.
“So when he turn and park, the person came up and just shot him – pop, pop, pop, pop. He just died there,” she said.
She stressed that there were many people around at the time.
“That time is a busy time for Carter’s Gap. People does be patrolling up and down, and people were right at the gap standing there.”
Residents may have witnessed the shooting but are fearful of coming forward, said the business owner.
“That was bad, man. I ain’t feeling safe at all. That was bad. People were standing there, a shop is next door.”
She was particularly critical of the response time.
“The police took very long to come. His girlfriend or her mother jump in the vehicle and took him. I agree with them — maybe I would have done the same thing.”
She acknowledged that moving the victim was not ideal but said panic likely took over.
“Though it wasn’t the right thing to do to move the vehicle, it should have waited until the police come, but maybe seeing his condition would have made her take him to the hospital.”
She also complained that the ambulance response was delayed but ultimately placed responsibility on the police.
“That was poor service, very poor service. It’s just Oistins there. If you get a report that somebody get shot, you should be here in less than 15 minutes. They took like an hour or 45 minutes.”
“That was wrong. That was the cry of everybody. That was poor service. Even if they had sent one person.”
She said she is still haunted by the sound of the children screaming.
“You hear the hollering of the kids, really horrible. I think she came out of the vehicle because she forgot something, but I think the boy was already sitting in there. I doubt they slept here last night because the place was in darkness.”
She called for quicker police responses to reports of gun violence.
“You were told someone was shot, not suspect something. That is more than one time.”
Fear still lingers in the community, particularly among the children.
“My grandson was getting ready for school, and he was so traumatised he didn’t want to come out. Up til now, my head hurting me.”
“That was bad. I’m not feeling safe at all. People were standing there, a shop is at the corner, and people were standing there. It got me offset up ‘til now.”
Detectives at Oistins Police Station are continuing their investigations.
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