A birthday celebration ended in tragedy for a Barbados family after a young man was shot and killed outside his grandmother’s home on April 14.

The Barbados Police Service said 26-year-old Daquan Roberts was standing along Spruce Street, St Michael, with two relatives when a white van approached from the Beckwith Street area.

At least one occupant of the vehicle opened fire on the group. Roberts was struck and ran from the scene but later collapsed.

He was transported by private vehicle to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he later died.

Roberts was a final-year law student at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus and was expected to travel to Trinidad to complete his legal education.

Grandmother recounts horrifying moment

Roberts’ grandmother, who was celebrating her 64th birthday at the time, said she initially mistook the gunshots for balloons popping.

“I thought it was the balloons, but it was gunshots. So, I heard this crying and when I looked it was his father,” she told local media, fighting back tears.

She described her grandson as a quiet and respectful young man and said she had been told he was not the intended target.

“He don’t interfere with anybody, he’s just a simple little boy. He don’t live over here. He only came here because it was my birthday,” she said.

Calls for justice

Minister of Legal Affairs and Member of Parliament for the City of Bridgetown, Michael Lashley, expressed condolences to the grieving family.

“It’s really sad [to see] a positive young man cut down in the prime of his life, steps away from joining the noble profession—that is the legal profession,” Lashley said.

He also expressed hope that Roberts’ family would receive justice.

Police investigations into the shooting are ongoing.