The father of the teenage girl who was shot in the head during a gun salute on New Year’s eve is speaking out about the incident.
He recounts the night that it happened after he had delivered the watch night’s service at the Emmanuel Chapel in Mount Salem St. James. He is now calling on persons to desist from participating in gun salutes.
“We had our usual Watch Night service on December 31 and as customary the gathering would go outside and observe the fireworks on display each New Year’s night. The unfortunate incident unfolded when we had just finished the service and one of the young men ran to me and said my daughter, Abigail, was injured,” Reverend Mullings explained.
Though his daughter was taken to the hospital and the bullet later removed, Pastor Mullings is appealing to citizens to desist from participating in gun salutes.
“There are many ways to celebrate a New Year, to celebrate Christmas, to celebrate significant activities. Firing a weapon is not one of them. We have to be cognizant of the lives of other persons around us,” he noted.
The Emmanuel Chapel is located in Mount Salem, an area which is currently under the Zones of Special Operation -and Enhanced Security Measure. He says with or without a ZOSO, citizens must still desist from criminal behavior.
KHADIJAH THOMAS
