A man has been gunned down while celebrating his twins’ birthday on Tuesday night. Allen Pacquette, 34, of Mahaut was shot at about 10:20 pm by a man who allegedly came out of a Honda HRV. Pacquette was celebrating his twins’ birthday Goodwill Road near Woodbridge Bay Port when the incident happened.
The second homicide was of Alston Lawrence, 31, who was gunned down at his Tarish Pit home at about 10:10 pm on Sunday. The assailant reportedly entered Lawrence’s home and shot him several times. He was rushed to the Dominica China Friendship Hospital (DCFH) where a doctor pronounced him dead.
Pacquette’s and Lawrence’s gunshot deaths occurred within two days of each other – the 11th and 12th homicide to be recorded in the country this year.
Meanwhile, a police shooting on Friday has left a man hospitalized at DCFH. Police authorities have not made any public statements regarding the issue. Since it involved a police officer, it is believed that an internal investigation is ongoing and that the authorities will come out with a statement once they are through with their inquiries. The incident reportedly occurred at the Roseau River Promenade.
Government and human rights activists have been calling for an end to gun violence in Dominica given the rise in gun-related incidents in the country. Having identified poverty, joblessness, social unrest, and illicit gun trafficking as the factors responsible for the growing violence, stakeholders sue for people to resolve their grievances through peaceful dialogues and via gun-tightening controls on the island.
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