Twenty-year-old Shae Antone Hackett who was gunned down on Monday night was sitting in front of his house listening to music moments before he met his untimely death.
Coral Henry, who is mourning the death of her grandchild, recalled that Hackett was sitting quietly in front of their Dunlow Lane, Bay Street, St Michael home, when she heard someone calling his name.
Henry told Barbados TODAY that the next time she heard Hackett’s name was when a neighbor called and gave her the tragic news that he was lying motionless on the ground at St Paul’s Avenue, Bayville, St Michael, where he was reportedly shot around 10:10 p.m.
Another young male who was reportedly injured in the incident was transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) by private vehicle.
The grieving grandmother who played a part in raising Hackett said: “Last night Shae was right here so sitting down playing a little radio he got inside of here. And then somebody call he and tell he something and he tell the body some bad word or whatever the word was and went back playing the music and then somebody out in the gap there call him and he put the radio inside and went to the person.
“I haven’t seen my grandson since. From the time I heard this thing I had an instant headache. I take the medication, eat and my head still hurting. I suffer with all kinds of things. Right now, I here speaking and my feet here swollen like a baseball.”
The 68-year-old woman who said that Hackett’s grandfather lives in the area of St Paul’s Avenue, lamented that she was clueless about the circumstances that led to him being shot.
However, Henry, who said she remained indoors in light of the rise in gun-related violence, stressed that only God knows where the guns are coming from. She said her grandson was accustomed to being out, “mixing with the fellas”.
“Shae was a very friendly fella. He know everybody in the gap. He was really friendly. He used to be running here, running there, doing this for anybody, or that for anybody. Sometimes Shae got he ways, sometimes he don’t have he ways.”
His grandmother said the former Lester Vaughan School student was not employed at the time of his death, but recently completed an application form for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) which he had not submitted.
Barbados TODAY contacted Hackett’s mother who was too overcome with grief to speak.
But, a male relative who requested anonymity said he and Hackett spent many of their childhood days together and maintained a good relationship throughout the years.
The relative said: “From the time we born we did together. We used to like running about together. He always home and if he aint down here he with his brother. His brother now start a bar and he was helping out the brother.
“Man, last night when the brother saw him, he couldn’t function or nothing. The brother was shaking so bad, he couldn’t walk and we had to lift he up. This is just hard for everybody in the family. I get the news, I rushed down there to see, but I still can’t believe it. Shae was a really cool person,” he recalled.
The Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) is continuing investigations into the shooting incident.
(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)
