St. Luke Students Take to the Streets, Despite No Arrest in Shooting of Kyron Green

Twenty-one-year-old Raymond Fuller is at home recuperating from injuries he received during an attempt on his life last Friday.  His injuries were not life-threatening and he was released from the hospital earlier in the week.  But tonight, the family and friends of an eleven-year-old boy are still holding on to hope that he will survive the ordeal, despite a grim prognosis and the likelihood that if he makes it, he may not be able to walk again.  It’s a heartbreaking story, one that we’ve seen unfold across the city too many times, where innocent children find themselves in the line of fire during gun violence.  In the case of Kyron Green, he was on an errand for his mother at a nearby supermarket on Central American Boulevard, going about his own business when a gunman took aim at Fuller.  Young Kyron was shot in the jaw and the bullet fractured his spine, leaving him paralyzed and clinging to life.  This morning, his classmates, as well as his teachers at Saint Luke Methodist Primary School, took the streets to say enough is enough for gun violence.  News Five’s Isani Cayetano has the following story.

Kyron Green

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

Eleven-year-old Kyron Green remains hospitalized at the K.H.M.H., where he is fighting for his life after being struck by a bullet intended for someone else during a shooting incident last weekend.  It is a case of yet another innocent bystander, a child no less, caught in the wanton violence that continues to ravage Belize City.

ASP Alejandro Cowo, O.C., C.I.B., Belize City

“Sadly, the child is still admitted in a critical condition at the hospital.”

Raymond Fuller

The chances of young Kyron surviving the harrowing ordeal are slim.  When last we spoke with his mother, the standard four student was not responding.  According to Marsha Belisle, her son may have suffered severe spinal injury when the round that entered the left side of his jaw fractured a vertebra at the back of the neck.

Kyron’s classmates, as well as the student population at St. Luke Methodist Primary School, are still reeling from the incident.

Pamela Bodden, Principal, St. Luke Methodist Primary

“The children are saddened and they have a lot of mixed emotions.  Their classmate, their friend has been hurt, seriously hurt and so we have tried to get ourselves together as a school, as a staff and talk to our children, counsel them and have them understand what the incident means and help them with their coping skills.”

In so doing, the faculty and staff organized a peaceful demonstration earlier today, encouraging students to express their discontent as the procession made its way along Central American Boulevard.

Laverne Ferguson

Laverne Ferguson, Teacher, St. Luke Methodist School

“We’ve never had an incident where one of our students was affected by gun violence so it has really hit home for us and we are really, all the children are a bit traumatized.  I feel that they’re afraid, some of them are afraid to even walk on the street and these things are really affected them.”

Isani Cayetano

“I know that you guys have sought counseling for some of the students, particularly those that are in the classroom with Kyron.  What have they been saying?  What are some of the sentiments that they have been sharing with their teachers?”

Laverne Ferguson

“Well some of them have been expressing their fear of the streets, their need for the violence to end because it’s coming closer and closer to home and, you know, and they are feeling, they are feeling for Kyron at this point in time where he’s lying in a hospital bed and they’re thinking to themselves, this is our friend, you know, we are really, really hurt by the incident.  So the children are, they need help, they need counseling at this point because they are really traumatized.”

But along with trauma come anger and resentment, both are strong feelings that arise from knowing that Kyron is undeserving of what has befallen him.

Pamela Bodden

Pamela Bodden

“One of the things I know that they also have is anger towards people who are committing the crimes and causing these kinds of incidents.  The counselors have been at the school, our Methodist counselors just going from class to class talking to the children, bringing awareness to them and helping them cope with the emotions that they have.”

Also injured during the Friday night attack inside One Plus One Supermarket was twenty-one-year-old Raymond Fuller.  He was the intended target of the murder attempt.  Fortunately, Fuller’s injuries are not life-threatening and he has since been released from the K.H.M.H.

Alejandro Cowo

ASP Alejandro Cowo

“Mr. Fuller was discharged, I think two days ago.  Police have detained a number of persons for this investigation, but up to now we do not have anything concrete to charge anyone with any crime so far.  We are still investigating and we are still questioning other persons and we are looking at different cameras, surveillance cameras that we have received, with possibilities that they can assist us.”

Thus far, police have been unable to make an arrest in the matter. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.