St Lucy village gripped in sorrow, fear as young man slain in mass shooting

The community of Broomefield, St Lucy, one of the northernmost reaches of the island, has been left shaken following a brazen, drive-by mass shooting at a bar in a neighbouring district that claimed the life of a young man and left several others nursing injuries.

The incident occurred around 10:50 on Sunday night at Fryers Well, Checker Hall, where patrons had gathered for a karaoke lime. Preliminary investigations revealed that the occupants of a dark-coloured car opened fire as it drove past the bar, hitting nine people. The victims were transported for emergency treatment, but Romario Archer, 31, died from his injuries at  Sunset Crest Medical Centre. The other injured people remain at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Romario “Beef” Archer. (Photo Credit: Sheria Brathwaite)

A tense silence hung over Fryers Well when Barbados TODAY visited on Monday. Villagers declined to speak on record, but several said they felt uneasy and fearful in the wake of the shooting.

At his Broomefield home, Romario’s father, Sherwood Archer, struggled to process the loss of his son, the second of his three sons: “Romario was loving and hardworking, very, very hardworking.”

Father of the deceased Sherwood Archer. (Photo Credit: Sheria Brathwaite)

The grieving father, who last saw his son on Saturday, said he raised his children to avoid trouble and live upright lives.

“I have three sons. I talked with them. I tried my best to bring them up the right way. Nobody can say my sons are interfering because they didn’t come up that way. The same way my mother brought us up, I instilled that in my children. Don’t go out there and get yourself involved in any foolishness.”

“He was a loving boy. You can walk the breadth of St Lucy. Every person that know him would tell you the type of person he was — sweet. My son was a gem.”

Romario, a past student of the Daryll Jordan Secondary School, had no children and lived with his girlfriend in Pie Corner. He was the second of three children.

His father recounted that his son, a deliveryman, worked diligently, first assisting with delivery work and later earning the opportunity to drive after obtaining his licence.

“That boy used to work hard.”

He also detailed the traumatic moments surrounding the incident, explaining that he first learned something was wrong when his youngest son alerted him.

“My youngest son… called me. He said: ‘Daddy, call Romario phone; I now get a message that there was a shooting.’ I couldn’t tell his mother; I didn’t know how to tell her. I just pace in and out the house.”

He continued: “When they got there, I didn’t see him… he wasn’t there… he had already gone to Sandy Crest [medical centre]. He died there.”

The reality of the loss only began to sink in hours later, said Archer.

“It ain’t really hit me last night… it’s only this morning that it really started hitting me… I shed a few tears this morning… I ain’t sleep up till now,” he said. “But me and my wife got to be strong, both of us can’t be down at the same time.”

“We lived good, all of us lived good, the entire family, we were so close, a lot of people would envy how close we as a family is.”

Despite his grief, Archer pointed to what he believes may have contributed to the tragedy, warning that innocent people can become victims of indiscriminate violence.

“I warned him about this liming ‘long side the road with this lot of nonsense that going on. A fella might want [someone], you ain’t do nothing but the fella that them want may come and sit down in between the fellas. When the gunmen come now, they shoot at everybody, them ain’t care who get hit. And I guess that’s exactly what happened to him.”

He also issued a direct appeal to young people across the island.

“Put down the guns… it getting ridiculous and it getting worse… you can solve conflict without violence,” he urged.

Member of Parliament for St Lucy, Peter Phillips, visited the family on Monday to offer support. Former Democratic Labour Party candidate Ian Griffith also visited the grieving family.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb