Brazen gunmen barged in on the Success/Laventille Health Centre yesterday morning, opening fire on a 23-year-old man in full view of petrified parents and children. It is believed two young men were "called out" to the centre around 9.40 am to "execute" Lennox "Boogie" Bellerand. Police believe the killing stemmed from an ongoing gang war between gangs from Trou Macaque and Beetham Gardens. Bellerand's killing has pushed the murder toll to 450. The suspects are believed to be members of the Beetham gang who "crossed enemy territory" to kill Bellerand. Bellerand had gone with his mother, Carol Martin, to visit the dentist at the centre on Espinet Street, Laventille. The young man, father of a three-year-old girl, lived at Upper Wharton Street, in the same area.
An eyewitness claims that shortly before Bellerand was murdered, a man sitting in the building talking on a cellphone was heard to say, "The man in here sitting down...Come now." Bellerand, the eyewitness said, was sitting in the general waiting area in the same location with 25 children when a gunman sneaked up on his victim, shooting him once in the back. The gun fell, the other assailant retrieved it and shot Bellerand in the head at close range. The two made good their escape on foot. The young man's father, also named Lennox, denied claims that his son was a gang member. He said his son recently confided in him that attempts were being made on his life. "Two months ago they fire a shot and shoot by he once in the bottom," the senior Bellerand said.
"In Laventille, if you don't join the gang they would kill you. You have to join the gang for you to survive and still if you join the gang they would still kill you because you would see something." He could offer no reason for anyone wanting to kill his son. "I tell him to continue living his life honest and don't go in no gang war...I tell him to stand firm," he said. Three years ago, another son, Wendell fell by the bullet in gang violence. "That son was a little harden and he did not want to listen. He was in certain things with them and he end up dropping out and they end up killing him," Bellerand said. Up to late yesterday afternoon, officers from the Besson Street CID, under acting ASP Sahadeo Singh, were conducting searches for the assailants.
Residents angry
Bellerand's murder which occurred opposite a day-care centre–Mammy's Day Care–has angered Espinet Street residents who described the attack as "unbelievable." "I was in the centre with my children. My five-year-old started to bawl and run all over the place when the shots fired. "She cannot stop shaking. This is really nonsense," an irate mother said. She said killings were the norm in the area, but the murder at the health centre was the limit. "Suppose these children had pick up a stray bullet?" she added. "My son was sitting next to him (Bellerand) just before the gunman come. Something just tell me to move my son from there." Another resident called for video surveillance cameras to be immediately installed around the centre. He said: "Criminals take over the town. They not afraid to kill people anywhere. We need cameras everywhere because the police just not holding anybody and people afraid to come out and say what they see."
