Stroke victim taken down by bullet

Henderson Rudolph Branch who was killed in a shooting at Train Line Road, Hall’s Road, St Michael last Thursday night was recovering from a stroke which he suffered weeks ago.

Branch’s grieving sister Patricia Mapp said her brother was recently discharged from hospital and was trying to overcome his physical ailment.

She said when she received the news last Friday morning that her 53-year-old brother was confirmed dead at the scene in the area popularly known as the Marl Hole, she went into a state of shock and sadness, particularly because she does not know her brother to be a troublemaker.

In fact, Mapp told Barbados TODAY that it was not a case of her brother being in the wrong place at the wrong time because the house next to which he died is where he had been renting.

“He was trying to overcome the stroke that he had. He was a little sluggish and that is expected. There’s this guy that he works with that has this body workshop and every morning the guy would come pick him up, carry him to work and bring him back every night.

“But unfortunately that night because the guys had them little thing inside the same very Marl Hole where he lived, the gentleman couldn’t drive down in there because of how the cars were parked to the best of my knowledge and understanding.

“He dropped him off so then he had to walk in. There is a chair at the corner of the house just where he was killed and he was sitting down there as far as I understand. So next thing you know, wherever the shots came from he was in line and he died,” she related.

“Apparently the man dropped him off just after 10 p.m. because the time the man get back home now he get a phone call that my brother had now been shot so then he called my other brother that live in St John. The Lord knows why my phone went on silent because if the phone wasn’t on silent there might got a second death, because when I got the news the morning when my brother tell me. . .It shocked me and left my two hands shaking and trembling. I couldn’t even move. My son in his room and I wasn’t even be able to tell my son. It wasn’t a good feeling,” she added.

The popular fish vendor said that what happened to her brother was unfortunate and she hopes those responsible for his death are caught and penalized. However, she added that while she agrees with the Black Lives Matter movement, she believes that black people should learn to appreciate each other to create a difference in society.

“It would make things a lot better. Bring the statistics for Barbados prison and tell me how much white people or Indians inside of there. The majority is black people.

“Now when you got little youngsters, the adults should be setting an example, don’t try to encourage them because you and a man had a little difference and a man slaps you. If a man slap you, you should be able to slap he back or let the law step in. You don’t really care about black lives, so how you could say black lives matter,” she said.

Mapp said her brother, who was well known as Mooney, has been doing body work on vehicles for many years, and enjoyed cooking. He has worked on vehicles owned by several prominent Barbadians, she added.

“He had a lot of pride. Pride was his main fall because he would want something and he wouldn’t come and ask you, he would prefer to do without. He would be hungry and nobody ain’t going to know that he hungry,” Mapp said.

The grieving sibling wanted to know when the issue of gun-related violence would be resolved in Barbados. She questioned whether it would take “a government” official losing a family member before a serious stance is taken on the issue.

“And then you got amnesty now fighting for people’s lives. This is encouraging people. Now watch it, a man smoke a spliff and you want to got he on remand for two years. A man planting marijuana you want to got he lock up for six or seven years. But a man shoot a man, you giving he bail.

“Where in the system in any of the other countries in the world that you does see that kind of thing happen. I always feel that the time you are going to hurt somebody you have a moment to reflect what you gine do, so don’t tell me that somebody made you do it or force you to do it. That is your decision,” she said.

Three other males who suffered of gunshot injuries during the incident were taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb