By Adrian Frater, News EditorWESTERN BUREAU:
TUESDAY NIGHT'S gun slaying of Christopher 'Prop' Colquhoun, 29, furniture-maker of Mt. Salem, west central James, in an incident which left five other men with bullet wounds, has left residents of the community in shock.
"My God, is the first time I have seen anything like this in Mt. Salem," said a trembling Marlene Smith, as she related what she saw to The Gleaner, shortly after shooting. "It was shots ringing out in large numbers. I don't know how more of them were not killed.
According to reports, about 9 o'clock yesterday, Colquhoun and the other men were standing at a stall on Campbell's Lane off the Mt. Salem main road, where they normally congregate after playing football in the afternoons. A white Nissan Sunny car, tinted black, burst on the scene and three men got out and opened fire at the group.
Colquhoun, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the back, died at the scene; the other men who were all hit at least three times each, were rushed to the nearby Cornwall Regional Hospital. Four were admitted in serious but stable condition and the other treated and released.
IDENTIFIED
The injured men, who range in ages from 22 to 28, and who are all from Mt. Salem, have been identified as Slayton Prescott, Brian Robinson, Marvin Munroe, James Mitchell and Dwight Hall.
"A lot of shots were fired at the scene as we recovered 25 spent shells shortly after the incident and when the men (police) went back there this (Wednesday) morning, they recovered a few more," said Det. Deputy Supt. Derrick Knight, head of the St. James CIB. "Our initial investigation is pointing to a drug link and we are now probing that theory," he added.
When The Gleaner visited Colquhoun's home yesterday, sadness was etched on the faces of all who were present.
"My brother was a quality furniture-maker and everyone admired him because he was such an industrious young man," said Verna Colquhoun, as she rubbed the head of her younger brother Okeve Hines, tears rolling down his face. "My mother is in England and all the three of us have here is each other," she said.
Colquhoun's death took the murder count in St. James to 74 since the start of the year. The gun has been the weapon used in most of the killings.
