Blogger ‘Leegates’ among three gunned down in Clarendon

Popular blogger, Leon ‘Leegates’ McNeil, was shot and killed at a party in Hayes, Clarendon on Saturday night, hours after he commented on an earlier double murder that was committed the same day in the parish.

The 36-year-old is the founder and owner of Leegates TV and Entertainment, which has covered several events in Clarendon, including the funeral of the woman and her four children who were slain in June in Cocoa Piece in the parish.

In relation to the killing in Hayes on Saturday, the Hayes police reported that about 8:55 pm on Saturday, McNeil was at a party when a group of men allegedly came up and opened gunfire at him.

When the shooting subsided, another man was found suffering from gunshot wounds.

Both injured persons were assisted to the hospital, where McNeil succumbed to his injuries and the other man was admitted in stable condition.

Police are theorising that McNeil and the injured man were in the wrong place at the wrong time, as gangsters may have been the intended targets of the attackers.

McNeil, in a video earlier on Saturday, which was posted hours before his death, decried the state of shootings across the country while he travelled in his motor vehicle.

“Two man succumbed to dem injuries. A swear mi nuh know wah gwaan. So much shootings. Mi nuh know why so much… tings ah gwaan in ah dem time yah.

“We need God. Mi a wonder if nobody nuh fear God again,” the blogger lamented.

“It is heart-wrenching, it is heart-breaking. Why so much shootings ah gwaan?” he questioned.

He was reacting to news earlier on Saturday that a taxi operator and a passenger were shot and killed by a gunman posing as a passenger on the Portland Cottage main road in Clarendon.

Those deceased are: 39-year-old Derrick Matthews, otherwise called ‘Red Fox’, a taxi operator of Wildman Town, Portland Cottage; and 47-year-old Michael Newland of Board Villa, Lionel Town, both in Clarendon.

Reports are that about 4:10 pm, Matthews was transporting Newland and another man in his vehicle.

On reaching a section of the Portland Cottage main road, Matthews pulled the vehicle over to let off the other man, who had asked for a stop.

Further reports are that the man pulled a firearm and shot both Matthews and Newland. The culprit then fled the scene.

The police were alerted to the area and both men were seen with multiple gunshot wounds inside the vehicle.

They were subsequently pronounced dead at hospital.

On learning about those killings, McNeil took to Facebook live to urge his followers to be “careful out there because a whole heap a tings a gwaan an a whole heap a people involve in some tings.”

Social media users have been reacting with shock, and have largely expressed their sorrow at the news that McNeil, more popularly referred to as Leegates, had been a victim of rampant criminality that he had earlier decried.

“This is so terrible… I just start following him after the funeral of the mother and her kids in Clarendon,” said Skyy Miller, a Facebook user.

“Lee Lee, my heart is broken. I did not expect this news at all… To his family, my deepest condolences,” wrote Jagmiso Biggs in reference to McNeil’s murder.

Another Facebook user, Rajiv Bayley, wrote: “It was great working with you bro, we have worked on so many projects. It was a joy to see you campaign to help poor people and the people in need.

“You will always be remembered Kramp Dem Billgates Leegates TV as a GENERAL and a POOR PEOPLE DEFENDER,” Bayley added.