Richie Poo alive, but in critical condition
Published:Friday | January 8, 2021 | 12:11 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Contrary to earlier reports, reputed gangster Richie Poo remains hospitalised in critical condition, the police told our news team yesterday. On Wednesday, several persons, including family members and law enforcement officers, had reported that he had succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment.
The former top-tier member of the Gideon Warriors gang, whose given name is Kevin Tyndale, was among five people shot on Wednesday during an attack along Old Hope Road in St Andrew.
One man was killed in the incident.
Initial reports were that Richie Poo was also killed. However, yesterday a senior officer told The Gleaner that, “his condition was very bad when they brought him in. The doctors did everything they possibly could in trying to save him. There were several reports that he died, but they worked on him overnight and now he is in critical condition.”
ATTACK GONE VIRAL
Head of the police’s Corporate Communications Unit, Senior Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay, also confirmed to The Gleaner that Richie Poo survived the attack but remained hospitalised.
The ambush, which occurred along Old Hope Road in the vicinity of the Swallowfield community, was caught on closed circuit television and a video of the incident has since made its way into the public domain. Photos of a bloodied Richie Poo lying in the back of a police pickup have also gone viral.
In the video, obtained by investigators, men on a motorcycle are seen trailing what appears to be a taxi with men aboard. The taxi stops and the pillion rider opens fire on the passengers, including Richie Poo, before escaping.
The injured persons were taken to the Kingston Public Hospital.
The St Andrew Central police say investigations are ongoing in the incident.
In September 2005, Tyndale was sentenced to three terms of 30 years in prison, each at hard labour, on conviction of illegal possession of a firearm, robbery with aggravation, and wounding with intent. The sentences were to run concurrently.
However, 13 years later, in 2018, Richie Poo was released on parole, the Department of Correctional Services confirmed.
The 30-year prison sentences related to the January 2002 shooting and wounding of a businessman during a robbery in Papine, St Andrew.