A taxi driver has described the moment two gunmen fired into the back of his cab, shooting his passenger Jakai Harford in the face before the 27-year-old fled in a torrent of bullets.

Hyman Bartley told The Royal Gazette it was raining so hard he initially thought the gunfire was hail stones hitting his vehicle as he dropped Mr. Harford off at his home on Mission Lane, Pembroke at 4 a.m. on March 27.

But minutes later, after he left the scene, he realised "mayhem" had broken out and saw that the inside of his cab was covered in blood and studded with bullet holes.

Three weeks on, the 52-year-old is still having trouble sleeping and shakes when he talks about the attack.

One of the hardest things to deal with, he said, is that he cares deeply about those involved in the recent gang violence.

Most of them grew up with his son Wolde Bartley, 29, who was left badly brain damaged and largely immobile after a 2004 car accident.

"They are round my son's age and I consider those guys like my sons," he said. "To see these young men doing what they are doing, inflicting pain on so many young people, hurts me. It adds to the pain that I carry in my heart every day for my son."

Mr. Harford — whose brother Kumi, 30, was shot dead on December 5 on St. Monica's Road — booked Mr. Bartley's taxi to collect him and some male friends at a St. George's nightclub in the early hours of March 27.

By the time the cab reached Mission Lane, some of the passengers had been dropped off and Mr. Harford and three others remained.

After Mr. Bartley entered the lane via North Shore Road and drove up the hill, a bike was seen in the distance. He was told to drive onto The Glebe Road to "see if anyone was hanging around" and two men got out at that point.

"I came around and came back into Mission Lane. I was parked right outside his [Mr. Harford's] house. I cut my engine off not to disturb the people inside.

"The taxi door was right beside where he could have gone straight into the house but he was texting on his phone. I truly believe being on the phone saved his life."

Mr. Harford was in the row of seats behind Mr. Bartley and another man was on the back row when the shooters — apparently waiting in bushes outside the family home — struck.

"The first shot went straight through the window," said Mr. Bartley. "Because it didn't shatter, I didn't realise the window was broken. The shot was coming from the passenger side, which was the side of his house.

"Then they must have slid the door back and shot into the car. Then he [Mr. Harford] managed to get across to the driver's side and get out of the door. He never screamed. I never saw him get out of my car; I didn't know where he went."

Mr. Bartley went on: "I'm hearing this noise. The guy in the back is shouting 'take me home, take me home' and I guess some part of my body must have figured that it was shots. I was ducking. I had my head on the seat."

When he looked up, he saw two dark figures run across the front of his taxi but couldn't see their faces.

The cabbie drove out of the lane and onto North Shore, where the remaining passenger jumped from the cab and ran.

"That's when I saw the blood and all the holes in my car," said Mr. Bartley. "The door on the driver's side, behind me, had all the holes in it. The bullet that must have hit his face was right on the seat behind me.

"Blood was on me. I didn't even know if I was hit. I called 911 to inform them of the shooting. I drove straight to the hospital to find him [Mr. Harford]. I was too scared to go back up the hill.

"I think he was hit six times. When I look at the door, I believe some of the bullets hit him after he got out."

He got to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital before the victim, telling bewildered emergency room staff what had happened.

"It was almost like they didn't believe me, until they went outside and saw my car," he said. "Then I saw him get out of a car. I walked with him inside. I saw the damage in his face; that turned my stomach. My concern was the amount of blood he was losing. I was hoping he wasn't hit internally."

Mr. Harford — previously shot on Christmas Day 2007 in Southampton — has since been released from KEMH.

Mr. Bartley was interviewed a few days after the shooting by Police and then again by two officers identifying themselves as FBI agents.

He claimed they threatened to hold him for four days unless he told them who was responsible but released him when he insisted he had no idea.

Mr. Bartley had only been driving a taxi for about six months and had accepted jobs in that time from anyone — regardless of whether they were affiliated with a so-called gang or not.

"It was no problem," he said, adding that the atmosphere changed after shootings close to Christmas last year.

"I started getting talk from people saying 'oh, you drive so and so'. I'm a taxi driver! Why should I have to choose this one or that one.

"The truth of the matter is that all I ever talked about was finding some solution. I even said that my son unfortunately can't make no choices. He has been lying on his back for five years.

"I told them 'you guys have a chance to have a better life and you are choosing to do this and inflict pain on one another'."

The father-of-six added: "I'm hurting for the young children of this Island. I don't feel it's fair that these young children should have to be in fear walking down the road and worrying if someone is going to be shooting their daddy.

"It's destroying everybody. It's not even about trying to figure out why they are doing it. I don't think anybody really knows no more. I think the original reason for the fight is long past."

The Mission Lane shooting came a week after James Lawes, Robin Stovell and Maurice Martin were gunned down on Dundonald Street. Mr. Lawes, 26, died from his injuries.

Two men questioned by Police about the attack on Mr. Harford have been released on bail.

A Police spokesman said yesterday that witnesses to the shooting were still being sought. "There is nothing new to report. The Police are following a number of leads and the investigation continues."