18 year old Roderick Williams is in the hospital recovering from three gunshot wounds he received last night.
Just after 9:00, the teenager was shot at the corner of Elston Kerr and Iguana Streets - one more victim of the indiscriminate violence associated with a gang war in his neighborhood.
Williams was standing with 19 year old Aleem Richardson when a gunman looking to be in his teens approached them, pulled out a handgun and opened fire. Williams was shot to the abdomen, hand and back while Richardson was shot to his right small finger. The gunman then ran up the street and jumped on a motorcycle that was awaiting him a couple blocks away. Neighbors rushed Williams to the KHMH and today he is in a stable condition.
Roderick is a well-known and accomplished basketballer who's been playing with the national programme from before he was a teenager. Today his mother told us off camera what she heard:..
Voice of: Natalie Flowers - Mother of Roderick Williams
"I was asleep and then the other young man who was with him who got shot came and gave me the news and I got so confuse that like I ran short of breath. I don't understand why they shot my son because my son is not that kind of person, from he was growing up as a child they played their sports and they went all over to represent Belize, so I don't understand why they shot my son. My son said that the person just walk up into him and fired shots. I want to ask that person why he did it because my son is not trouble - he doesn't deal with those kinds of things at all for this to happen to him."
Monica Bodden
"You heard the gunshots last night?"
Natalie Flowers - Mother of Roderick Williams
"I was already sleeping. It was when the young man came and give me the news then like I jump up out of my bed and like I just got confused. I really can't say what happened when the young man came and give me that news - I got so confused."
Monica Bodden
"He was shot to what part of his body?"
Natalie Flowers - Mother of Roderick Williams
"To the right abdominal, and I think that burst out through the hand and then another shot on the thigh."
Monica Bodden
"In all two shots?"
Natalie Flowers - Mother of Roderick Williams
"I think its three, I think one in the back too. So far he is good, thank God, it could have been worse than that, so I am thankful for that very much."
18 year old Roderick Williams is a recent graduate of Sadie Vernon High where he was a star player. Neighbors did mention that there is an ongoing gang warfare in their neighborhood that has many of them living in fear.
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