CASE NOT CLOSED – Life snuffed out

It was supposed to be just another night out.In fact, Shane Ifill, 28, was not venturing far from his home at Silver Hill, Christ Church, on the night of January 23, 2008.But fate had decreed that Shane, alias Twinman, was not going to make the short trip back home. Instead, Shane ended up in the island’s records as the third murder for 2008, and on a long list of shooting incidents that would prompt the police high command to express concern.It was about 8 p.m. on a Wednesday that Shane set out “to go on the block”. Why he changed his mind no one knows.To reach his new destination he used a very popular track in the area that leads from Wotton to Kingsland.As he and another were doing so, they were set upon. Shane was shot in the back and thigh, and died hours later at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The other youngster, 20-year-old Joseph Savoury, of Green Hill Drive, Silver Hill, survived a gunshot to his left side.Severe blowThe death was a severe blow to Shane’s mother Carol Ifill – in shock at the loss of one half of her twin sons. Shane had also left behind a pregnant girlfriend. The call came about 15 minutes after Shane left home. The mother was on the verge of dismissing the news. She was confident it could not have been Shane because of where the shooting took place. During a 2008 interview she said: “He had only left home about 15 minutes when the phone rang and somebody told me, ‘Twinman get shoot’. I said no, that can’t be true, he is on the block.”Filled with dread, Carol ran to the “block”, but found no Shane.Calls to his cellphone went unanswered.Back home, in a rush to dress to go to the scene, Carol got another grim call. She was to go straight to the hospital. The news there wasn’t heartening either. The prognosis stacked the odds against Shane’s survival; it was summed up in the words “he might not make it”. He didn’t.Shane, once described as a loving person, was gone.“He was always smiling. You could tell him the worst thing and he would smile,” his mother said.Those latest shootings were enough to provoke a reaction from the police.“We are very concerned about this sudden [number] of shooting incidents, and we have put plans in place to deal with those responsible for these dangerous and reckless acts,” Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Morgan Greaves said back then.The upsurge in the use of guns was tied to illegal drugs, robbing sprees by criminals to get money, or ongoing disputes among traffickers and other criminals. In a move to allay public fears, police intensified the stopping and searching of vehicles, and the clamping down on some of the known hot spots. Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin appealed to Barbadians not to panic, and pledged the force would curb the shooting spree. “We have taken note of the situation, and we are fully aware of the fear and public disquiet it has generally caused,” Dottin said back then.Still, no word on Shane’s killer or killers.Two other fatal shootings occurring that month were eventually cleared up. Andrew Scantlebury, 40, of Road View, St Peter, was shot and killed when a masked assailant robbed the Play To Win arcade. A man has since been charged with that and other offences.Paul Hope, 29, of Clarke’s Road, Ashton Hall, St Peter, was shot to death while at Maynards, St Peter. It was the second time he had been shot. Police also charged someone with that killing.