Grade 1 shooting suspect freed

Cape Town 140115-Jerome Taylor from Elsies river says his son Jermaine was shot next to his school. Jermaine was his first day to Grade 1 at Holy Trinity Primary. Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Daneel/Argus

Cape Town 140115-Jerome Taylor from Elsies river says his son Jermaine was shot next to his school. Jermaine was his first day to Grade 1 at Holy Trinity Primary. Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Daneel/Argus

Published Jan 20, 2014

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Cape Town - The parents of the Grade 1 boy who was shot on his first day at school are unhappy about the police’s decision to release the man who was arrested.

Jermaine Taylor, 6, was shot in the arm when a man opened fire outside the gates of Matroos Holy Trinity RC Primary School in Elsies River on Wednesday morning.

Jermaine and another boy, 17, were injured in the attack. Police later arrested a 27-year-old man, who was charged with attempted murder.

He has since been released, owing to a lack of evidence linking him to the crime. A police source at Elsies River explained that the primary witness, the 17-year-old victim of the shooting, had “disappeared”.

News of the unconditional release came as a shock to Jermaine’s mother, Cecilia Taylor. She had heard last week that the man had been released on bail, pending a court appearance.

“The police have disappointed us. Are they sending a message that suspects can be released because they have not gathered the evidence properly?” she asked.

Meanwhile, Taylor said there had been an outpouring of support for Jermaine.

On Sunday a church group called at the family’s home in Clarke’s Estate, Elsies River, to pray with them.

On Monday morning Jermaine were scheduled to see a state psychologist and his parents were set to meet with education department officials to discuss the shooting.

“We would like advice from the psychologist on when Jermaine can go back to school. He is still traumatised.”

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Cape Argus

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