Police following leads, but no arrests yet in mass shooting incident

Funerals have taken place for all five men who died during the mass shooting that took place at Harbour Club, Upper Bay Street, on Wednesday July 19.

On that bloody night, gunmen claimed the lives of Lamont “Dutchie” Hector of Paul’s Avenue; Dondre Hillocks of Long Wall and Belmont; Jamal “Dutty” Bobb of Ottley Hall; Rickie Taylor of Long Wall; and Kashie Primus of Rockies.

It was the first time so many persons had been murdered in a single incident in St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the act took the 2023 homicide count in the country to 35, and in line to surpass the 2022 record of 42.

A police source said on Monday that investigators are following leads but up to press time had not been able to put the pieces of the mass shooting puzzle together.

One man was detained, questioned and released, while police also seized a white Suzuki SUV believed to have been used as the getaway vehicle.

Two other men, one of them Kyle Ragguette of Long Wall, were shot in the incident, but survived.

After the shooting, police said they received “intel” about possible reprisal killings coming out of the mass shooting but did not mention that the mass shooting itself may have been a reprisal.

This was the second time that Hector, who some believe was the main target, had been shot.

The first time an attempt was made on his life was on Saturday December 5, 2020 outside the Club Envy at Arnos Vale. Gunshots erupted at about 3:50 a.m. and when they died down, Hector, another man and a woman were hit. Hector was struck in both hands.

Hector was also in the area on Friday December 23, 2022 during a shooting incident in Paul’s Avenue, where two men, one of them Hector’s brother Jawanza “Sanga” Fraser, were shot outside Hector’s bar.

This has been a bloody year so far for SVG. As a result of the shootings, law enforcement and border patrols are on high alert.