The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

BAMBOO Town MP Renward Wells said yesterday the shooting of his brother will not mean that he or the government will implement any new strategies or measures in the fight against crime.

In fact, Mr Wells said, he believes the government is doing its best to deal with the crime problem despite a spike in homicides in the past two weeks.

“I do not think we are 
going to see any new measures or anything different than what we have been doing just because my brother got shot,” he said.

“We haven’t been holding back crime fighting strategies. During the budget, we signalled more programmes that will be implemented over time, they will be coming on board shortly, but none of them are new, they were all foreshadowed.”

“So people cannot say that I will care more because it has touched home, when I think about it every crime touches home. Anytime someone commits a crime it affects everyone in the country. We all live here, we all pay taxes here. When crime happens it means we need more lawyers, more medicine, more doctors, more nurses, more beds in the hospital, more police, more police cars, so it affects us all everyday because we pay taxes for these things. Just because my brother was shot does not mean I am going to get any tougher on crime. Anyone who knows me, knows I have always been a conservative when it comes to sentencing. I want hanging, I want whipping, but this is not an epiphany I just had, I always believed this. The solution for crime lies within the community, we all need to speak out about the things we see and get involved, it is the only way things are going to change.”

Mr Wells’ brother – Cabrio Wells, 31 – was one of two men shot when an after work game of backgammon exploded into violence. He is expected to undergo surgery today.

According to Mr Wells, doctors had to wait until his blood pressure stabilized and the bleeding stopped before they could operate.

“The bullet,” said Mr Wells, “went straight through and nicked several of his vital organs, so they have to fix that, but we are confident he will be all right.”

The other man, who was the target of the shooting, died at the scene. The incident happened around 2pm on Fowler Street. The victim has been identified as Aaron Thurston also known as “AJ”. Investigations are continuing.