VIDEO: Point Hill Boy Was A Jovial, Promising Class Leader – Principal
December 5, 2023The 12-year-old boy who died in a shooting incident at home at Snake Hill district in Point Hill, St Catherine, was jovial and promising, according to O’Neil Ankle, principal at Jonathan Grant High in Spanish Town.
He noted that the late seventh grader, Omarco Brown, was a class prefect at the school.
“He commanded the respect of his peers; no wonder he was selected as the prefect for his class,” Ankle told The Beacon, adding that the child’s form teacher also stated that he was academically inclined.
“He was the jovial type; he had a bright future; he did his [academic] work. He obviously had the attention of his classmates; his life gone soon – too soon if you ask me.”
Omarco died in a shooting incident at his home on Saturday, December 2.
Police investigations are ongoing to ascertain a number of things, including whether the child was killed with a gun belonging to his aunt, who is a police officer. It is also not yet clear to The Beacon if it was an accidental shooting.
It is said that the aunt, who is a cop, visited the child’s home and was having her hair combed outside the house.
She reportedly left her gun in a handbag in the house.
Members of the family heard an explosion and, when they went to check, they found Omarco with a gunshot wound to the head lying on the floor in the room where the gun was left.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) issued a press release regarding the shooting, but it did not give much details. In fact, it made no mention of the child’s police aunt.
It said: “Reports are that, about 5PM, residents reportedly heard an explosion and alerted the police. On their arrival, Omarco was seen lying on the floor of a bedroom with a gunshot to the head. The scene was processed and the body was removed to the morgue.”
The JCF noted that its investigation is ongoing.
Ankle said a number of students broke down in tears after being informed about the death.
“We had to pull the Grade Seven students that are connected to the young man and place them in their form room. They were all crying and so the Guidance Counselling Department and other teachers had to be treating with them until a team from the Ministry of Education led by Education Officer Stephanie Webb-Parker came in. Other neighboring schools came in and gave support,” he told The Beacon.
The late child has a brother in fifth form at Jonathan Grant High. “He has a brother in Grade 11 preparing for CXC; he is angry [regarding the passing of his brother] and so he has to be getting counselling himself,” Ankle disclosed.
He also said representatives of the school visited the bereaved family the day after the tragic incident. “Based on the report they have given me, it’s mourning all around,” added the Jonathan Grant High principal.
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