An execution-style killing at Leadvale, Christ Church has left residents shell-shocked as they come to grips with the loss of Omar Bubba Layne, who was taken from them just hours before his 36th birthday.
According to residents, an unfamiliar man was seen lurking at a convenience shop around 10:30 a.m. footsteps away from where Layne was sitting in a silver grey Mitsubishi Lancer.
Moments later, a barrage of gunfire erupted shattering the driver side window and leaving numerous wounds on Layne’s face. He died on the spot.
Word of the incident attracted a massive crowd who observed the unsightly and unusual spectacle before police personnel arrived and set up a perimeter.
“Police discovered a large number of people gathered around a grey-coloured motor car and the lifeless body of an adult male in the front driver’s seat with injuries. Another motor car was also observed with damage close by,” reported Sergeant Michael Blackman – the acting Police Public Relations Officer.
At the scene, a visibly upset man, later identified as Layne’s father, was being consoled after identifying the body of his son.
The father of Omar Layne receiving support as he is led away from the scene.
Fearing the incident may have been drug or gang related, residents discussed the event in hushed tones.
“That act was brazen, because they were trucks parked outside the shop and people were around, so it wasn’t anything secret. People were around there when it happened and he just opened fire like some kind of wild man,” one eyewitness recalled.
“He [the shooter] was masked up in the same way that everybody is masked up these days, but I am not worried, because the houses which are in the area where he escaped all have cameras and the shop where the shooting took place have cameras as well and I’m hoping they will find the person soon,” she added.
Another resident told Barbados TODAY: “It was a really frightening thing to hear. They said he was hit seven times, but I heard at least ten shots. It seems the shooter was lingering by the shop waiting for him to come home and the guy went by the driver’s side and opened fire and he ran away through an open field.
“I saw all of the neighbours running toward the car. When I got there, there was blood everywhere and a multitude of people came over to see.”
It was unclear what Layne did for a living, but most residents described him as a quiet person who kept a very low profile.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb
