Brazen daylight shooting in tourist area leaves one dead

Gunshots startled people, including tourists, at the Young Island dock last Friday, November 15, 2024 as this country added another homicide to its crime statistics.

A few hours after the shooting that left Brent Hackshaw, a Questelles/Campden Park man dead, a source told SEARCHLIGHT that a “tall” masked man had emerged from a white Toyota Vitz and shot Hackshaw.

The deceased, who is known to the police, having been found guilty of several crimes in the past, died on the spot a little after 9:00 a.m.

What was different about this shooting is that on arrival at the scene, homicide investigators met the deceased on his face on the dock, and above his head was a piece of cardboard with the words “When u owe PAY!” written on it.

The sign is said to have shocked persons, including investigators, and a woman who frequents the area claimed the sign was not left by the killer, but belongs to a vendor who operates in the area and fell the way it did by coincidence.

However, some persons are saying it was left by the killer who is reported to have fired as many as a dozen bullets at Hackshaw.

Videos and photographs were shared via social media shortly after the shooting, with persons expressing concerns, not only about the sign, but by the fact that there was another shooting in this country of around 115,000 people.

Friday’s shooting brought the homicide count to 44 for 2024, and happened in one of the main tourist areas on the mainland.

The deceased is no stranger to newspapers; news of him has been reported in the media on several occasions for his involvement in criminal activities such as burglary and theft, and including an incident that took place around the same area where he was killed.

On February 10, 2010, Hacksaw appeared before the Serious Offences Court and pleaded guilty to seven counts of burglary that he committed between November 20 and 21, 2009. He had entered Catamarans docked at Young Island and stolen a large quantity of items from different persons valued at over $15,000. Items stolen included a Dinghy valued at $9,000; a Yamaha engine valued at $4,000; a gold chain; a Seiko watch; sneakers; backpacks; and cash, and Hackshaw told the police he had exchanged most of the items for marijuana.

That year was one of breakthrough in the spate of burglaries that were plaguing the Villa area.

Around January 2012, Hackshaw was granted $5,000 bail after pleading not guilty to stealing several pieces of audio equipment which had gone missing between January 11 and 12, 2012 in Campden Park.

Hackshaw’s death was one of three that took place between Friday, November 15, and Sunday, November 17, 2024.

Police are investigating and have asked that anyone with information that can help with the investigation to contact them.