The Tribune

GUNFIRE tore through a Pinewood Gardens home just after midday on December 31, leaving a 48-year-old man and a juvenile girl wounded.

The man was shot in the stomach and right leg, while the juvenile sustained gunshot injuries to the right side of her chest and her lower right forearm. Both were rushed to hospital and later listed as in stable condition.

The shooting unfolded inside a green house in the area of Buttonwood and Sapodilla Avenues, where an argument over money escalated. Police said another man pulled out a firearm and fired several shots before fleeing on foot.

Within hours, officers attached to Operation Black Scorpion arrested a suspect in connection with the incident.

The violence came against the backdrop of other firearm-related incidents across the island that day.

In Seven Hills Estates, a man was confronted inside his own home during the afternoon when a masked intruder entered through a door while the victim was in the restroom. The intruder pointed a gun at the homeowner and demanded cash, escaping with $370 after disabling the home’s camera system.

The gunman fled wearing a mask, a black shirt and blue jeans.

Later that day, officers acting on information searched a park on Hill Street in the Seven Hills area and uncovered an illegal firearm hidden beneath bleachers. The weapon and ammunition were wrapped inside a white sock and seized. No arrests were made in that discovery.