The 15-year-old boy vacationing in Jamaica from the US, who was last week shot by the security forces during a raid in Seaview Gardens, St Andrew, is now out of hospital after a successful operation to repair his leg over the weekend.
The teenager told Loop News that the incident has left him traumatised and that he has been changed forever by the horror of almost being killed at the hands of those who are to serve and protect people.
“It was a horrible, horrible, a traumatising situation… It changed mi life forever,” said the boy.
“Mi nuh waan see no police; mi no waan de round dem,” the boy, whose name is being withheld, told Loop News.
The teenager has been vacationing in Jamaica since June before he was shot in the thigh last week. He resides in the US.
He had been enjoying his summer holiday, as typical teenagers do, playing football, games and hanging out with friends, before the events of that fateful day, which have now coloured his perceptions of his homeland and its security forces.
According to UNICEF, the Convention on the Rights of the Child speaks to the basic human rights that every child under age 18 has, which includes the right to survival.
“Mi nuh waan deh a Jamaica. Mi want to go home, and mi waan stay there, mi no waan come back ya. The pain wah mi inna right now, mi not even know if mi ah go be able to play ball or even run again, or walk properly. It’s rough…rough,” he said.
The teenager suffered “major muscle damage” in the incident.
The 15-year-old boy is on the honour roll at his school and is an aspiring footballer who lives in Bronx, New York. Howard Johnson, the teen’s father, flew to Jamaica after the shooting last week and is demanding answers from the Jamaica Constabulary Force about the events that transpired the evening that his son was injured.
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“I spoke to the police and they have all types of different stories, but only one man discharged his firearm, no one else fired,” he said.
Johnson disclosed that he will be securing legal representation Wednesday. The 41-year-old American citizen, who is a truck driver in the US, said he knows the recovery process will be expensive and challenging.
“He has had two rounds of physical therapy and I will have to pay the rest out of pocket. School is about to start in the US and the doctors are saying that it will be three months before he can even put his foot on the ground, so it is going to be a challenge,” he told Loop News.
On Wednesday, a representative of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) told Loop News that there have been no developments since last week.
After the shooting incident last week, INDECOM had said that the security forces reported an engagement with at least one, possibly two males, one of whom is reported as allegedly pointing a firearm at the members of the security forces.
No weapon was reported to INDECOM by investigators as being recovered from the scene or the injured boy.