from the OBSERVER, by Karyl Walker
A 10-year-old boy, who was getting ready to participate in a school football competition with more than 50 of his peers, watched petrified yesterday as a gunman walked up to his football coach dad on the sideline and shot him in the back of the head.
As Derrick Lewis, 36, lay on the ground, his attacker shot him once more.
Confused, a number of screaming children ran blindly into the gunman's path as he sprinted across the football field into a wating motor vehicle.
The brazen midday murder of the Chetolah Park Primary School coach just before the start of the Kingston and St. Andrew Primary league match at the playing field behind the TInson Pen aerodrome has left students and teachers in shock.
School principal Iris Hollingsworth said that because of the incident, professional counselors were being sought to help the student body to adjust.
"We will have to seek help for the children are in a state of shock and trauma," Hollingsworth told the OBSERVER.
Scores of students gathered inside a classroom and wept uncontrollably. A female teacher tried to stay calm as she consoled the devastated children, none of them older than 12 years old.
"He was very good to them and even those who were not at the match are very disturbed," the teacher said, as she fought back tears.
Lewis also doubled as a security guard at the chool.
One boy did not cry, he merely stared into space. About 10 minutes later the child spoke.
"We were shaking hands (for the start of the game) and the man come and kill him. We frighten and sart run up and down like we mad," the boy said. He was still trembling from the experience.
The children from Chelotah Park Primary, who were in Lewis' care, were alone until cops from the Hunts Bay Police Station arrived on the scene.
A number of students from St. Jude's and Jessie Ripoli Primary, who were scheduled to participate in the competeition, will also require counseling.
Detective Inspector Altemoth "Parra" Campbell is a hardened cop who has worked in the trenches for most of his policing life, but yesterday's killing softened the tough cop.
"I have seen some brutal things, but this one jerked me. The children, parents, and teachers hugged each ofther and cried.", Campbell told the OBSERVER.
The police say Lewis was stnading on the sideline when the gunman crept up behind him and shot him in the back of the head as the match was about to begin.
A 10-year-old boy, who was getting ready to participate in a school football competition with more than 50 of his peers, watched petrified yesterday as a gunman walked up to his football coach dad on the sideline and shot him in the back of the head.
As Derrick Lewis, 36, lay on the ground, his attacker shot him once more.
Confused, a number of screaming children ran blindly into the gunman's path as he sprinted across the football field into a wating motor vehicle.
The brazen midday murder of the Chetolah Park Primary School coach just before the start of the Kingston and St. Andrew Primary league match at the playing field behind the TInson Pen aerodrome has left students and teachers in shock.
School principal Iris Hollingsworth said that because of the incident, professional counselors were being sought to help the student body to adjust.
"We will have to seek help for the children are in a state of shock and trauma," Hollingsworth told the OBSERVER.
Scores of students gathered inside a classroom and wept uncontrollably. A female teacher tried to stay calm as she consoled the devastated children, none of them older than 12 years old.
"He was very good to them and even those who were not at the match are very disturbed," the teacher said, as she fought back tears.
Lewis also doubled as a security guard at the chool.
One boy did not cry, he merely stared into space. About 10 minutes later the child spoke.
"We were shaking hands (for the start of the game) and the man come and kill him. We frighten and sart run up and down like we mad," the boy said. He was still trembling from the experience.
The children from Chelotah Park Primary, who were in Lewis' care, were alone until cops from the Hunts Bay Police Station arrived on the scene.
A number of students from St. Jude's and Jessie Ripoli Primary, who were scheduled to participate in the competeition, will also require counseling.
Detective Inspector Altemoth "Parra" Campbell is a hardened cop who has worked in the trenches for most of his policing life, but yesterday's killing softened the tough cop.
"I have seen some brutal things, but this one jerked me. The children, parents, and teachers hugged each ofther and cried.", Campbell told the OBSERVER.
The police say Lewis was stnading on the sideline when the gunman crept up behind him and shot him in the back of the head as the match was about to begin.
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