Woman shot year after step-dad, cousin’s murders

Step-daughter Stacy Gumbs, 28, believes since that incident, she and other family members would have been targeted by the criminals who murdered Mathews. On Friday, Gumbs almost met her death in a similar fashion when a gunman shot and wounded her near her home at Fazal Avenue, off Penal Rock Road, mere meters away from where her step-father was gunned down.

Up to yesterday, Gumbs, remained warded at San Fernando General Hospital in a stable condition, having sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and shoulder. It was on December 13 when Matthews, also called “Shortman” and “Sprainy”, was shot dead after he had returned home from a parang lime at Lachoo’s Road.

His relatives had told Newsday back then that Matthews had been threatened and “wrongfully blamed” for the death of Gumbs’ cousin, Roger Romain, 35, who lived next door. Romain was ambushed and gunned down in front of his home on May 17, last year. The latest incident in which Gumbs was shot on Friday, occurred shortly after 2 pm when the woman was driving her beige-coloured Mazda 323 car along Fazal Avenue. A police report stated the gunman emerged from the bushes and opened fire on the car.

There was another occupant in Gumbs’ vehicle, Mario Meade, but fortunately he was not injured. The report stated Gumbs, after been shot, managed to continue driving the car but eventually crashed into KMS Barbershop on the corner of Fazal Avenue and Penal Rock Road. The gunman, police said, fled the scene on foot. The wounded woman, as well as Meade, were rushed to hospital.

Meade was treated and discharged while Gumbs remained warded.

Since Matthews’ killing last year, members of the Gumbs’ family have repeatedly called for police officers to conduct regular patrols in the area because of what they suspected there would be a reprisal killing. In the aftermath of Mathews’ killing, Gumbs had told Newsday last year: “It was frightening when Roger was killed and now that Michael is killed, is real stress. ” When Sunday Newsday revisited Gumbs’ home yesterday, it appeared that no one there. A resident said he is not fearful of living in the area because “crime is everywhere in the country and not just at Penal.” Police were unable to confirm if last year’s killings were linked to Friday’s shooting of Gumbs. No arrests have been made for the murders nor the latest shooting.

Inspector Ramphal and Sgt Ramsingh of at the Penal CID are continuing investigations.