Two gunmen armed with two guns each emptied 30 shots at twin teenaged brothers Friday evening at dusk. One of the brothers survived but an innocent mechanic joined the other twin in death. All three men were ambushed on Tibruce Street on Friday night at around 6:00. Dead are Daniel Puerto, 17, a construction worker of Tibruce Street, and Ian Martinez, 34, a mechanic of Gill Street.
The third victim, Darnell Puerto, 17, is currently hospitalized with extensive gunshot wounds. Darnell and Daniel are twins.
A 2-year-old girl barely escaped the attack because Ian Martinez, her now deceased father, had just put her back into a car before the fusillade of shots.
The Puerto family has staunchly refused to speak to any media personnel or provide photos of their sons.
We were, however, able to speak to Ian Martinez’s family. His father told us that his son was a mechanic employed with JMA Motors. He was fixing a vehicle for someone, had completed the job and was returning it to the owner, who lives on Tibruce Street. Ian took Iandra Martinez, his two-year-old daughter, for the ride.
The Martinez’s father told us that his son had arrived a little earlier than the person for whom he was fixing the vehicle. Ian decided to wait for the customer on Tibruce Street. It was planned that the man was to give him a ride back to his house on Gill Street.
While waiting, the friendly Martinez saw the Puerto brothers, both 17, standing in front of their house and decided to strike up a conversation. He got out of the vehicle, holding his daughter by her hand, and began to speak to them.
While they were conversing, Martinez’s daughter fell asleep on him, and that was when he decided to put her back into the vehicle.
We were told that it was moments later when two gunmen, reportedly carrying two guns each, exited a brown car and opened fire on the group. The men fired approximately 30 shots, some of which hit the bodies of the three men.
Martinez, after he was hit by two bullets, saw his daughter crying and trying to open the door. He attempted to stop his daughter from exiting the vehicle and was caught by another bullet in his neck, which the family believes was the fatal wound.
According to the police, Martinez’s body had gunshot wounds to the neck, the right lower rib cage and left shoulder.
Daniel Puerto was shot in the neck, left leg, right side of the back and left hand.
Darnell Puerto was shot in both hands and both legs. Fortunately, he survived the attack and is currently in the hospital in stable condition.
Amandala understands that after the attack, the 2-year-old child was still on the scene and had to be rescued by members of the media, who arrived on the scene. We were told that the little girl is traumatized as a result of the attack. She was cognizant of the fact that her father died before her eyes.
Martinez leaves behind four children and a fiancé. The family is devastated because he was just in the wrong place when the attack happened. None of his relatives believe that he was the target of the attack, because he is a hard-working man who abided by the laws and was a productive citizen. He spent much time with his family when he was not working.
We were only able to get a few details from the Puerto family, who told us that they are also very devastated.
Daniel Puerto’s mother is currently not emotionally prepared to speak about her murdered son. We were told that she spent most of this weekend at her other son’s bedside at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.
There has been no official word from the police as to the reason for the two murders.