Nesbeth counts his blessings - Artiste gives thanks after surviving Connecticut mass shooting

June 18, 2025

Reggae/dancehall artiste Nesbeth says he genuinely feared for his life during Sunday night's mass shooting in Connecticut, describing the horrifying ordeal as the most terrifying experience he has ever faced.

The My Dream hitmaker was among hundreds of patrons at an event inside the Caribbean American Society building in Hartford, in the USA, when armed gangsters traded bullets.

"Mi a tell yuh, outta everything mi ever go through, this was di worst," he told THE STAR.

Five persons - two adult females and three adult males - were injured in the mayhem which Nesbeth said felt like it lasted an eternity.

"So much things happened inna just 15 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. It never did feel like it a guh done - mi did honestly think mi might not make it out," he said.

What would have normally been a relaxing Father's Day with his family, turned into a night of chaos for the entertainer, who found himself trapped behind a wall during the barage of shooting. Hartford police said the violence was the result of a conflict between two groups, which had shooters that fired at each other.

The entertainer, still shaken, recounted the terrifying ordeal that left five people injured and hundreds fleeing for their lives. Describing the mayhem as something out of a nightmare, Nesbeth said the entire venue descended into panic.

"My first instinct was to take cover at the closest place to yuh and believe mi, I never see so much people hide behind waah likkle wall and I was so worried. Like mi a seh 'Weh mi a duh yah so?' he said.

The artiste, who is a father of five, said thoughts of his children flooded his mind as the bullets flew through the air.

"Di amount a flashback mi have pon mi kids. Inna 15 minutes mi neva know seh yuh cudda think bout suh much things, hear suh much tings at the same time, and is like everything a bombard yuh. Is like, yuh a wonda if di moment a guh past or it a guh continue."

"I was seeing people laying down on the ground, people scampering all over the venue and when the gun shot start, every man was just trying to save himself. Is a moment weh yuh affi deh inna fi understand it because there's not enough words to express it for someone who was not there to understand it," he said in disbelief.

Nesbeth said that he lost several personal items during the chaos, but he is not complaining because he has life.

"Even though it was a traumatising moment for everyone, it could've been more dangerous than how it is because with over 600 people in that venue, and guns were firing recklessly all over, and only five people got shot, as bad as things be, we really affi give thanks," he said.

Nesbeth said he is still processing the trauma but is staying strong.

"Mi good enuh, just still a bit shaken up and when I keep reflecting on the moment, I'm saying it was really an experience where the impossible become possible. Mi just grateful fi life yaah man, because mi a nuh stranger to dark cloud, suh di journey just continue," he said.

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