WESTERN BUREAU – North Trelawny Member of Parliament, Dr Patrick Harris, wants the police to carry out full investigations into Wednesday’s shooting and injury of a man in the Falmouth Market.

“The wanton and irresponsible discharge of firearms significantly contributes to the upsurge of gun-related crimes in the area. I am thus appealing to the police to leave no stones unturned in carrying out a speedy investigation into the circumstances which led to the shooting of a Falmouth citizen (on Wednesday),” Harris said.

According to the police, the shooter received information that two boxes of masking tape had been stolen from his truck, which he parked inside the market on Wednesday afternoon.

He subsequently went to a man who was selling masking tapes in another section of the market and an argument developed between them. A third man is said to have joined in the dispute, using a knife to stab at the shooter. The shooter then pulled his licensed firearm and fired in the man’s direction. The single shot caught a fourth man – later identified as 50 year-old Allister Hines – who was repairing his handcart nearby.

The injured man was taken to the Falmouth Hospital, but had transferred to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was admitted in serious, but stable condition. The shooter was, taken into police custody following the incident, but was released pending further investigations into the matter.

Meanwhile, the Falmouth market continues to be a place of business for many vendors despite the ordered closure of the 24 year-old facility, by the public health department. The market was ordered closed after the Trelawny Parish Council missed a 30-day deadline to rectify unsanitary conditions there.