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Hero guard killed

Robert Phillip Breakenridge - contributed

A MEDAL FOR bravery should aptly be given to Robert Phillip Breakenridge, who, with the help of a knife, took on three gunmen who attempted to rob passengers on a Jamaica Urban Tansit Company bus on Friday.

But, alas, he will not be able to collect that medal as he was shot dead during his incredible defiance of lawlessness.

Breakenridge, 41, a Guardsman security guard, was killed after he stabbed one of the gunmen. Another passenger was shot and injured during the melee.

The incident has left Breakenridge's family with a bitter pill to swallow especially since it happened when he was coming from work - somewhere he would not normally go on Friday.

"You know he wasn't supposed to go to work that day, but the Thursday evening when he came in, he said he would have to go to work on the Friday," said Breakenridge's mother, Hyacinth, as she sat trying to relax in their Greenwich Town, St. Andrew home.

Police, who have made no arrest in connection with the killing, say at about 7:45 p.m. said several men boarded the bus on reaching Orange Street, downtown, Kingston, and attempted to rob the conductress and other passengers. They were about to search him, when he attacked one with a knife he was carrying. One of the robbers opened fire hitting him and another passenger. They were taken to the hospital, where Breakenridge died.

Got vision

Hyacinth said as the time got later and there was no sign of him, she thought something was wrong. When she later heard the news Friday night, she knew it was her son, even though no name was mentioned. "I said, 'Is him get shot innuh, is him...After that I go in my room and take my pressure tablet." she dosed off and got a vision. "When I was getting up I see him lying there on the ground with a crowd around him, and I just know seh something wrong." Her beliefs were confirmed when his co-workers visited later that night.

Breakenridge's girlfriend, Paulette Smith couldn't go to the gate when his co-workers came. "The first thing I ask, is if him dead, and them said 'yes', and I rush inside and start to cry," she said. "I will miss his company, his jokes...I don't know what else to say."

Breakenridge, who died leaving a four-year-old boy, was described as a son who was the sole-provider of his family.

His death is the latest example of how dangerous taking public transport, like the JUTC, has become. Gwyneth Harold, marketing and public relations manager at the JUTC, say the company has been working with the police to curtail the number of robberies.

Harold could not comment on Friday's incident as the company's management has not met to discuss it.

Although unwilling to name the particular routes where the robberies were happening frequently, she said "the route on which the incident occurred on Friday is an indication of where some of the attacks happen. But, there are other routes where the robberies take place."

She encouraged commuters to cut down on the amount of cash that they travel with. "What I would encourage is that they use the smart card...or exact change."