The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE teenager shot in the face at a gas station on Tuesday night was disoriented but talkative after the attack, which has left him with a fractured skull and caused sales at the station to plummet.

Demetrio Forbes, a 17-year-old pump attendant at Esso On The Run, was working the late shift at the East Street South gas station when a gunman shot him in the face and ran.

Widely shared footage of the shooting at the station, which is just across from the South Beach Police Station, disturbed residents.

The incident also shocked employees who quickly helped Mr Forbes, who had been a worker there for two years.

Trevor Brown, the manager of the gas station, said he was in his office when the teen was shot.

When he went outside, Forbes was bleeding on the ground.

“I was hoping he didn’t (die),” Mr Brown said yesterday.

 Mr Forbes’ aunt, Tunyia Rolle, also works at the station and witnessed the attack.

 She said she had one goal: keeping her nephew alive and alert.

 “The only thing I coulda do is remain calm because I’m a nurse as well, so I decided to remain calm and try to do my best to keep him talking and keep him alert,” she told The Tribune yesterday. “He wasn’t aware of what was going on. He didn’t even know he got shot.”

 “I keep him talking and letting him ask God for forgiveness.”

 Ms Rolle said the family does not know the motive behind the attack but heard rumours that he was not the intended target.

 She said it is unlikely Forbes will return to the station.

 “He never been in trouble, and just Friday he messaged me, and he was like, “I want to go to BTVI to do mechanic, so I told him Wednesday I’m off, and we could see and get the forms and stuff,” she said.

 She said although Mr Forbes is in stable condition, he has a long road to recovery.

 “I know they say they may have to transfer him to ICU and give him like some medication for the swelling of the brain because the brain isn’t really damaged,” she added. “It’s just a bruise, and they don’t even want to do surgery to do damage to the brain.

 “So they’re just watching it for a little while to see how the brain is going to heal on its own.”

 Mr Brown said employees are shaken and will get counselling.

 He said business operations will continue as normal and encouraged customers to patronise the store, noting the incident was unprecedented. 

 “You could see already that sales dropped,” he said. “It’s less traffic. But they don’t have to get scared or afraid. They can still come because we’re still here to serve them.”