THE grief counselling unit at Church on the Rock in St Andrew had its work cut out for its pastors and counsellors on Thursday following Wednesday night’s mass shooting in Cassava Piece, which left one woman dead and five people injured.

The dead woman was identified as 28-year-old Kelly-Ann Bernard, a mother of three children, ages 10, seven, and six.

Bernard was sitting just outside a small shop belonging to her mother in a lane at 46 1/2 Mannings Hill Road watching a group of men in a merry mood as they played a game of dominoes. Police reported that sometime after 7:00 pm a motor car pulled up where the domino game was being played, armed men wearing masks alighted from the vehicle and fired gunshots at the group of people.

After the shooting, Bernard lay dead at the entrance of her mother’s shop while four of the injured quickly left the scene to seek help with their wounds. The other, who was bleeding heavily, was taken to hospital.

Pastor George Demetrius of Church on the Rock described the state of mind of the family, especially the children, as one of confusion.

“Having heard about this we came across to comfort the family as best as we can, but because of the unusual situation here we are taking those most affected to the church. To say that the family is in shock is an understatement. The children are confused as to what happened. Even their grandmother is not even sure what advice is correct. We are taking them to the church to put them in a comfortable space, talk to them, and bring words of comfort. We have people at the church right now who are trained to deal with this kind of situation,” Demetrius told the Jamaica Observer.

Evangelist Jody Williams, also from Church on the Rock, described the situation as “disheartening”. She said Bernard’s children were confused.

Bernard’s mother, Gem Smikle, said her daughter loved her children and did almost everything in their best interest. She told the Observer that Bernard had planned to put on a cake sale on October 25 and would have celebrated her birthday on November 5. Smikle broke down in tears, but she still managed to detail what she remembered up to and after the shooting.

“It was after 7:00 pm. I was out there at first, but because I have high blood pressure I called her and told her I was going to take a pill inside the house and she should come and take over the shop. She was killed right at my shop. That’s where they always play dominoes.

“I got the pill and sat right on my verandah and then I heard the shots. I immediately turned into an idiot. By the time I came out here I saw the car coming down the road so I ran back inside and waited until they left. When they left, that was when I came out and saw my daughter on her face in the shop. My babyfather was laying down outside and the other people ran with the shots inside of them,” she said.

One man said that after the shooting, information was being circulated that two people were killed in the incident. He said they might have thought this was so due to how badly Smikle’s babyfather was bleeding after he was shot. However, he was rushed to hospital.

“Only one person died. People were saying it was two because that was what everybody thought. When the gunshots were fired and the gunmen left, everybody said ‘Lucky’ was dead based on how badly he was bleeding on the ground, but it’s the girl alone who died. She got shot and dropped in the shop on her face. She was watching the dominoes. She was running the shop. It’s a place where dominoes is played regularly.

“I was inside my house when I heard the gunshots. I thought it was clappers to how it sounded rapid. It was probably more than 50 shots fired. By time I realised it was shots firing, I saw my lady run inside the house with her friend and locked the door. We couldn’t even lock the grille. When I came out of the house I heard a whole lot of people making a lot of noise. They said three gunmen came out of a car with masks on their faces and just started to fire.”

A pregnant woman said that the father of the child she is expecting was one of those injured in the mass shooting.

“I am in pain because my babyfather was shot up. I ran with my belly to go up there after the shooting died down.

“I want the place to come back together as one because the place is too loose. People are coming in the place to do things like this and they are able to just get away like that,” she lamented.