Only Victor L. Bryant and Company sales representative Andrew Humes, 41, could tell you why he survived being shot at three times on Central American Boulevard last Friday night.
At about 7:00 p.m. he was standing with a friend drinking in front of a warehouse, which stands next to Chinese store Sonny’s Supermarket, when two men on bicycles approached.
The men fired approximately six shots from what appeared to be a 9mm pistol. Humes’ friend, identified by police as security guard Wilhelm Young, 32, was able to get beyond the range of fire and apparently escaped unhurt, though the shooters reportedly chased him.
But Humes, father of a teenage son and a preschool age daughter, was not nearly so lucky. He was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital suffering from gunshot wounds to the right side of his abdomen and left leg, which had to be immobilized. A third bullet only grazed his left side, exiting through his back.
Humes declined Amandala’s request for an interview Saturday evening in the interests of protecting his family and livelihood. He said only that he recognized his attackers and that he is not involved in any criminal activity – an innocent bystander if there ever was one, according to family members we spoke with.
The block of Central American Boulevard between Neal Pen Road and Fabers Road is also the site of two recent shootings. Tyron Castellanos, 18, was killed in March in a yard only a few feet away from where Humes was shot, and Delroy Matura, 21, survived a similar shooting on Pen Road just before Easter.
The streets of the Port Loyola constituency in general have been especially bloody in recent months. Carlton Tasher, Roberto Torres, Eugene Flores, Jermaine Gibson and Alfred Allen have all been murdered within a hundred yards of the Boulevard; Tasher, Torres and Flores on Gill Street, Gibson on North Creek and Allen on Malcolm Street off Trinity Boulevard, respectively.
Faron Felix’s murder last December at the corner of the Boulevard and Fabers Road led to angry residents tearing down part of a wall surrounding the local basketball court, where shooters reportedly hid to kill Felix, while Torres and Flores’ killers hid in an abandoned house on the curve in Gill Street on Valentine Day’s evening.
Police had one suspect detained, since released, and say they are looking for two others, including one Marlon “Figit Bird” Jones, in connection with the incident.
But family members we spoke with over the weekend say they will not rest until Humes’ attackers are brought to justice. They see no reason why he was attacked, though unconfirmed reports to Amandala are that the shooting is connected to revenge for another recent shooting. We understand that the intended target was in the area and was shot at as well, but also escaped injury. The family remains concerned that Humes’ attackers continue to walk free and have a chance to kill others.
Humes is in stable condition as of press time tonight.