Yesterday, the rumored boss of the Kraal Road gang, Raymond “Killa” Gentle, 35, was gunned down in the evening around 4:55 at the corner of Baracat Street and Kraal Road.
He was standing in front of a house, the construction of which he was overseeing, when the gunman struck.
Police say that they believe that the killers are members of the George Street Gang (GSG).
Amandala was told by residents in the area that Gentle was overseeing the construction of a house (He reportedly had about 20 men employed under him.) when a gunman fired at him and rode off on a bicycle. There was another person accompanying Gentle’s assailant, who also rode off after Gentle was shot.
Gentle was reportedly hit in the chest by several bullets; he was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but died while undergoing treatment. Amandala tried to speak to family members, but they refused to speak to us.
Amandala was told that Gentle was the captain of the City Boys United Super League Football Team, which went on to win the Super League Championship on September 19, 2010, at the People’s Stadium in Orange Walk. The team’s former name was Kraal Road.
Those who knew Gentle told us that he had indeed been a street figure. After several attempts on his life, he turned to football and was eventually employed by Works Minister Anthony “Boots” Martinez. He was working to put his past behind him, his friends said.
Gentle is no stranger to attempted assassinations. In 2002, he was attacked on Kraal Road and shot, but he survived. In 2006, he was again attacked, this time in front of his home on Doris Brooks Street. He was hit in the stomach; another man who was with him, Aniver Palacio, died in the attack.
In 2009, a few days after Christmas, a grenade attack claimed the life of Rudolph Flowers, 14. Many people believed that Flowers was not the intended target. This attack led to a calling of a truce between some of the rival gangs in the city, which took place on December 31, 2009.
On June 28, 2010, Ernesto Perez, a Honduran, was gunned down at the corner of Rivero and Fairweather Streets; he succumbed to his injuries a few days later. He was driving Gentle’s vehicle at the time of the attack. Police say that Perez was a known associate of Gentle; they also believe that Gentle, once again, was the intended target of this attack.