Reggae Artist Attacked With Hammer, May Lose Left Eye

Grammy-nominated reggae artist Andrew “Dru” Barnes (pictured) was smashed in the face with a hammer in Brooklyn last week, according to the NY Daily News.

Barnes, a member of the alternative reggae band JOGYO, had reportedly just left his friend Gerrit Vooren’s Bedford-Stuyvesant home at 11 a.m. last Thursday and was heading to Fort Greene, when he got lost.

Watch JOGYO’s “Rude Boy” video here:

That is when, according to police, an unidentified assailant suddenly attacked him with the hammer.

The attacker allegedly followed Barnes for a block before striking. On a Facebook page dedicated to Barnes, Vooren wrote that “Dru yelled out, the man ran, and the ambulance and police appeared quickly and took him to Kings County Medical Center.

“I got a call from the police department that Dru was in the trauma unit and asked for me.”

Though Dru is expected to survive, he may suffer permanent vision loss.

“Dru is going to loose his left eye. The damage was too severe to repair it. Too many parts of his eye were severed.” Vooren wrote.

But there may be evidence that could lead to the attacker, according to Vooren.

“He just came out of nowhere and ran. He did leave the hammer behind, so we hope there’s fingerprints/DNA on it.” Anybody with possible information on the attack can contact authorities at Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

You can also donate money for Dru’s upcoming operations here.