St James man shot dead

Reports are that at about 7pm, residents ran for cover as gunshots rang out on their relatively quiet street. When they checked, they found Denzel Eccles on the roadway suffering from gunshot wounds.

His relatives told Newsday yesterday that he was sitting outside his apartment near a parlour when a man walked up to him. The man was carrying a box of fried chicken and asked Eccles for a bottle of water. As Eccles got up to get the water, the man pulled out a firearm and shot Eccles several times before running away. Relatives yesterday described Eccles as a “hasty man” who would regularly get into fights.

They said, however, that he was a very loving person to his family.

“We grew up as foster children,” said his adopted sister.

“Denzel liked to go out and take his little drink every now and then.

But he is a little miserable and he would misbehave. He was nice to us though. That is a common thing; people would be nice at home but outside they are something else.

Police officers of the Western Division Police and Homicide Bureau are trying to ascertain a motive behind Eccles’ murder.

And the fish vendor who was also shot dead on Saturday in St Joseph has been identified as Ran Ricardo De Silva. Newsday understands that at about 5.30 pm De Silva was driving his Kia van on Johnny King Street, having just finished selling fish, when gunmen ambushed the vehicle. He tried to escape but he was shot. He died at the scene.