WESTERN BUREAU — The bullet-riddled body of 37 year-old Carl Bernard, alias “Science”, was yesterday found lying in a pool of blood at the back of his cook shop in Retirement District, St James.

Residents reportedly heard explosions in the area at about 12:15 am, and alerted the police. But it was not until about 6:00 am that community members stumbled upon Bernard’s body, which was clad in a pair of jeans pants, sandals and a shirt. The body was later removed to the morgue for a post- mortem examination.

Up to press time, the Granville police, who are investigating the killing, had not established a motive but area residents told the Observer that Bernard had recently received death threats. It is also believed that he was robbed of cash and a cellular phone during yesterday’s incident.

His killing brought the number of persons to die violently in St James since the start of the year to 70, compared to 57 for the same period last year.

Among those who stumbled on Bernard’s body was a sixth-grader, who was on his way to school. Yesterday, the boy left school during the course of the day and revisited the scene, obviously shaken at the death of a man whom he had considered his friend.

“We used to sit down and talk, and him used to tell mi sey mi must behave myself at school and learn,” the 11 year-old student said, tears streaking his cheeks.

He said Bernard was a good friend who always had words of encouragement.

Bernard’s family members and other residents spent most of yesterday trying to figure out the motive for what they described as “the senseless killing of a good man”.

His mother, Pearl Doman, said she did not know why her son was killed.

She was part of a group gathered around her son’s cook shop yesterday morning, trying to find a reason for the untimely death of an obviously loved man.

Sometime between 6:30 am and 7:00 am, Doman said, she received a telephone call, telling her that her son had been shot and killed near his shop. She rushed to the scene, she said, where she saw Bernard lying on the ground. The stricken mother placed her hand on her son’s belly — and then she realised that he was dead.

“When mi reach there, mi see him lying on the ground and mi put mi hand pon him belly and mi see sey him dead,” Doman said, fighting back tears.

Bernard, she said, was the eldest of her four sons and he provided her with financial help. She is now left to wonder how she will make ends meet.

Several residents spoke of the generosity and good sense of humour that Bernard, who had operated his cook shop for more than 10 years, possessed. A group of women who had converged near the shop described him as a nice man who told a lot of jokes.

“Him was irie, kind, love sweet-up woman,” one reminisced.