This is the spot Dr Ken Nanton received five bullets to the body from a gunman who police said wanted to steal his Toyota Hilux Surf sports utility vehicle at the lookout point on Skyline Drive in Jacks Hill, St Andrew.

THE Accident and Emergency Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies was last night accepting only emergency cases, as staff at the facility mourned the passing of Dr Ken Nanton who was shot dead in Jacks Hill, St Andrew, Thursday night.

The unit, which was closed for three hours yesterday morning, later reopened to accept emergency cases.
"The A & E will only be accepting emergency cases over the weekend," Stephanie Reid, the hospital's chief executive officer, told the Observer yesterday. "By Monday we should be back in full force," Reid said.

"The whole incident has devastated the workers," Reid said. "We gave them time to reflect and grieve."

A citizen of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Nanton, who was assigned to the Accident and Emergency Unit at the University Hospital, was shot dead at about 11:00 Thursday night when he tried to flee from a gunman in his blue Toyota Hilux Surf sports utility vehicle at the 'lookout point' on Skyline Drive in Jacks Hill, St Andrew.

The Accident and Emergency Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies, where Dr Ken Nanton worked, helping to save lives.

The police reported that the medical doctor was approached by a gunman who ordered him out of the vehicle, in an apparent robbery attempt. Nanton, according to the cops, refused the gunman's order and made an attempt to drive away when he was shot.

The police did not say if anyone was in Dr Nanton's company at the time of his death, neither did they explain how they came by the information as to how he was killed.

According to the police, when they arrived in Jacks Hill, Nanton's lifeless body was seen slumped over in the driver's seat of the SUV. The doctor was hit five times - once in the left armpit, right breast, back of the left shoulder and twice in the upper right arm. The bullets also shattered the back windscreen and front left window of the vehicle. Five 9mm spent shells were found on the scene, investigators said.

Jacks Hill and Red Hills, also in St Andrew, are areas that persons, wanting to get a panoramic view of the city of Kingston usually go. It is likely that Dr Nanton may have been enjoying the bird's-eye view when he was surprised by the gunman.

Yesterday, Reid said Professor Fred Hickling was called in to counsel the workers as they mourned Dr Nanton.

"He was a team player and we have lost a very good person; a valuable skill," Reid said sadly.

The many sad faces at the University Hospital yesterday showed that Dr Nanton, the man who had helped to save the lives of many whom he attended to at the emergency unit, was loved by his co-workers.

Gloom hung over the section of the institution where he worked and both medical and non-medical staff were in no mood to work.

"If a sick person come here now them would have to visit another hospital. No work," a security guard said.

"He was brutally taken away," said Omar Esson, 'patient advocate' at the Accident and Emergency Unit. "He was a man who would go beyond the call of duty and was not deserving of an end like this."

Another staff member hit out at gunmen, some of whom Dr Nanton had treated at the emergency unit. "Dr Nanton has saved the lives of so many persons, including gunmen who come in here with gunshot wounds, and one of those bastards killed him," a teary-eyed nurse said.

- walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com

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