Motorists caught in crossfire

By Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter

TERRIFIED MOTORISTS caught in a crossfire between the police and gunmen, crashed into each other along the busy Washington Boulevard in Kingston yesterday as they attempted to get out of harm's way.

When the dust settled two persons, one who was a passenger on a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus, and another travelling in a car, were rushed to hospital after sustaining injuries.

Four vehicles, including an articulated JUTC bus which was firebombed and a truck carrying market produce were damaged. A Toyota motorcar was totalled.

The chaos started just after 9:00 a.m. when residents of Maverly, a community off the Washington Boulevard, attempted to block the major thoroughfare. They were protesting against the police's killing of 19 year-old Omar Wedderburn in the community on Sunday.

"When the police arrived on the scene we came under fire from men coming from Maverly," Inspector Winchroy Budhoo, officer in charge of crime at the Duhaney Park police station told The Gleaner.

He said the police returned the fire and the men ran.

"Motorists panicked and crashed into each other," he said.

The police Inspector stressed that the stoning of vehicles by the residents and the firebombing of the bus which was on the opposite side of the Boulevard, contributed to the accidents. According to Inspector Budhoo, the men were armed with high-powered weapons including M16 and AK47 rifles.

In defending their actions, residents charged that Wedderburn was killed in cold blood by the police.

"How can they talk 'bout shoot-out when dem kill di youth inna him bed?" one resident asked. "If even he was a wanted man, dem could a tek him in and mek di law take its course?"

Yet another insisted Wedderburn was innocent.

According to the police, Wedderburn was wanted for several shootings and murders committed in the area. They said a Taurus 9mm pistol with five rounds was recovered from his body after the Sunday shooting. Four persons have been taken into custody in connection with that incident.

Another nine were picked up yesterday and were being processed Inspector Budhoo said. He added that the police were pursuing a number of men wanted in connection with murders and shootings committed in the area.

Despite a strong police presence, the state-owned JUTC took extra precautions after the incident, temporarily diverting buses from the Washington Boulevard yesterday.

The company said a molotov cocktail (bottle bomb) was thrown into the bus by a man who appeared in front of the vehicle with a gun which he pointed at the driver, forcing him to stop. The driver opened both doors of the bus, allowing the passengers to disembark, following which the gunman lit the molotov cocktail and threw it through the window of the unit causing damage to the windscreen, windows, several seats and the fuel tank. Several slippers and shoes left behind bore testimony to the haste with which passengers fled the bus.

In condemning the latest attack on JUTC buses, company president Sterling Soares pointed out again that ultimately it was taxpayers who would have to foot the bill to repair the units.

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