A woman who appeared to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time also was shot in the leg during the incident. However, she survived her wound, unlike Gumbs and Lake who suffered fatal injuries to their heads.
According to eyewitness reports, two men in a white car exited their vehicle and opened fire as Gumbs and Lake stepped out of another vehicle. Gumbs was killed first, next to the car he had just exited, and then Lake, who managed to make it into the common area of the shopping centre. Lake showed signs of life when ambulance workers arrived, but died on his way to St. Maarten Medical Center.
Forensic indicators at the scene bearing numbers placed next to bullet shells confirmed that at least six shots had been fired.
Witnesses recalled hearing at least nine or 10 gunshots. The gunshots did not resemble the sound of a fully automatic weapon, according to accounts of witnesses who said there had been pauses between the gunshots.
Both victims had had interaction with law enforcement before their deaths. Lake allegedly was questioned by British law enforcement in Tortola recently about cash he was carrying when he attempted to return to St. Maarten. And Gumbs allegedly had been fired on by police close to four years ago after driving through a crime scene.
Police Chief Commissioner Peter de Witte was among senior police officers who visited the crime scene yesterday as detectives and the members of the Forensic Unit combed the area for evidence. By then, police had sealed off a section of A.Th. Illidge Road.
People living within the area that had been sealed off by police waited behind yellow tape and the atmosphere grew dimmer when they learnt that two people had been shot dead in their neighbourhood. Police permitted elementary school pupils to pass along the edge of the crime scene to go home.
An elderly St. Maarten woman who had no affiliation to Gumbs or Lake began to cry after hearing the news about the latest fatal shootings in St. Maarten. "What happen to St. Maarten?" she sobbed repeatedly.
Meanwhile, as police continue their investigations into yesterday's double homicide, they are yet to nail the perpetrators of the recent drug-related slayings of Amador Jones, Hector Arrindell and Rodolfo Arrindell.
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