8 YEAR OLD WAS FROM BRITAIN

Tragic British girl, eight, who died after being shot in head on a family holiday to Jamaica
Imani Green, of London, shot on Friday night in Duncans, Trelawny Parish
Girl abroad for winter holiday with mother Donna, 47, and sister Jamila, 19
Struck in head by bullet from 9mm pistol and hit in shoulder by second bullet
By MARK DUELL and LESLIE LARSON
PUBLISHED: 00:04 EST, 13 January 2013 | UPDATED: 12:02 EST, 13 January 2013
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Killed: Imani Green, eight, was on a family holiday in Jamaica and shot dead after an assailant opened fire at a grocery store
A British child on a family holiday in Jamaica who was shot dead after an assailant opened fire at a grocery store was in the country to help her cope with a genetic illness, it was revealed today.
Imani Green, eight, of Balham, south-west London, was at her cousin’s small shop on the island’s north coast, in the town of Duncans in Trelawny Parish, when violence broke out during an argument.
The girl – abroad for a winter holiday with her mother Donna, 47, and sister Jamila, 19 – was struck in the head by a bullet from the shooter’s 9mm pistol and then hit in the shoulder by a second bullet.
Imani, who suffered from the genetic blood disorder of sickle cell anaemia, was with three relatives in the family’s shop when a gunman wearing a hoodie entered and began shooting.
‘We heard gunshots,’ Imani’s sister told BBC News of Friday evening’s incident. ‘We ran outside and shouted “Imani, Imani, Imani”. I picked her up off the ground and realised she was still breathing.’
She managed to flag down a car, which drove them to hospital. ‘The rest is history,’ she added.

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The three members of her family who were also shot during the attack are in a stable condition.
Imani’s brother Dean Palmer, 27, said he was devastated by the death of his sister, who went to Jamaica twice a year to help her cope with the disease. It’s advised that sufferers avoid cold temperatures.
He said the family was in two minds about whether to take her this time, but within a few days of arriving she was ‘back to her normal self’.
Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting, said: ‘(I am) devastated to hear the news of eight-year-old school girl Imani Green, a pupil at a Tooting primary school. This is terrible news.’
Witnesses said the young girl was deliberately targeted in the attack.
But Kingston Police Deputy Superintendent Steve Brown told Sky News: ‘We do not know the motive. What we can confirm is that Imani was not the target of this shooting.’
Other family members were nearby and rushed to scene when they heard the gunfire. They found the little girl, still breathing, in a pool of blood. She was taken to the hospital but died before they arrived.

Tragic death: Imani Green (pictured left by herself and right with her mother Donna, both in 2009) was at her cousin’s small shop on the island’s north coast, when violence broke out during an argument

‘I picked her up and flagged down a taxi. We took her to hospital to try to save her life but it was too late,’ Jamila told the Sun.
Her grandmother, Sandra Fisher, 54, said they ‘found her in a pool of blood. It was horrible.’
The other family members in the shop, two women and one man, were also wounded. They were hospitalised and in stable condition. Her mother was described as inconsolable after the tragedy.
Imani’s father, Richard – who had remained in Britain over the holiday – was similarly overcome with grief and collapsed when he was informed via telephone that his young daughter had been killed.

Family: The girl was visiting relatives in the small town of Duncans, a rural area on the north coast of the Caribbean island
‘He’s in a bad way. Imani was his life,’ Ms Fisher said.
There was no report on if the gunman had been apprehended or indication on a motive for the crime.
Neighbours in Balham today spoke of their sorrow following the girl’s death. One friend of the family, who asked not to be named, said: ‘This is a close-knit community, so this is going to hurt us.’
Another added: ‘Nobody wants to speak, she was just a little girl. This is all so sad. We’re distraught.’
Neighbours said members of the girl’s family left their home for a flight to Jamaica early this morning to be with Imani’s mother.

Education: Imani attended Fircroft Primary School in Tooting, south London, near her home in Balham

Home: The three-storey, semi-detached property in Balham, south-west London, where Imani Green, eight, was said to have lived
A man who answered the door at the three-storey property declined to speak to the press today.
SICKLE CELL ANAEMIA IN PROFILE
Sickle cell anaemia is an inherited genetic blood condition.
People with the condition have sickle haemoglobin (HbS), rather than regular haemoglobin (HbA) – the protein in red blood cells which carries oxygen.
Regular red blood cells can easily bend and travel around blood vessels without any problems – but sickle haemoglobin sticks together when giving oxygen to tissues.
This makes red blood cells sickle-shaped and less able to move. They can easily block small blood vessels and this prevents oxygen from getting through and can damage organs.
Sufferers should avoid wearing tight clothing, dehydration and cold temperatures – as well as maintaining a good diet.
Anne Wilson, headteacher at Fircroft Primary School, in Tooting, south London, where Imani attended, said she was ‘a happy, playful child who was popular with staff and pupils alike’.
Ms Wilson added: ‘She dealt with her illness very bravely and coped well with the special arrangements we had to have in place to support her.
‘She had been given special permission to travel to Jamaica so that she could benefit from the warmer climate and we had been in contact with the local primary school she was attending whilst there to make sure she was receiving an appropriate education.’
A British Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: ‘We can confirm the death of a British national in Jamaica on January 11.
‘We are providing consular assistance and liaising with local authorities in Jamaica. We cannot comment further on cases involving minors.’
Jamica’s National Security Minister Peter Bunting condemned the killing.
He said: ‘The senseless killing of a young, innocent child must outrage all well-thinking Jamaicans, and cause us to join our security forces in an intensified effort to rid our communities of criminals.’
Read more:
Gunman murders trip girl, 8

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2261599/Imani-Green-Tragedy-British-girl-8-holiday-Jamaica-dies-shooting-familys-grocery-store.html#ixzz2Htg0CUj6
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