West Kingston Enquiry - Intensity of gunbattle made JDF soldiers nervous

Omar Anderson, Staff Reporter

THREE JAMAICA Defence Force (JDF) soldiers appeared yesterday before the West Kingston Commission of Enquiry. One testified how he was shot and injured, when two men fired at a platoon of soldiers he was among on Saturday, July 7.

Under examination by Janet Nosworthy, associate counsel for the Commission, Private Mark Webb, 22, of the Internal Security Platoon (ISP), said he was at Up Park Camp on July 7, when Lieutenant Ricardo Blackwood informed them that gunmen had pinned down several of their colleagues in Hannah Town and that they were required to rescue them.

Private Webb who was armed with self-loading rifles (SLRs), said he was among a group of 22 soldiers who left for the Hannah Town Police Station. He said the platoon later left the station by foot. A group of men fired at them at the intersection of Charles and Oxford Streets.

Private Webb said the soldiers took cover. He saw three of the 12 men who were firing at them. He fired back and hit one of the three, who fell. One of the injured man's colleagues drew him out of the soldiers' shooting range.

He said that the intensity of the encounter and the gunmen's brazenness left the other platoon members nervous.

He said he and a group of six soldiers drove in a V150 armoured vehicle to the Coronation Market command post. While there, he said gunshots pelted the post, followed by two explosions which shook the building and shattered several panes of glass.

Private Webb told the Commission he was strategically placed at a window overlooking Bond Street, from where he saw several men firing at the command post. He said he fired back, hitting one of the gunmen in his leg. The injured man later escaped on Bond Street, he said.

When cross-examined by Dennis Daly, Q.C., who is representing the office of the Public Defender, Private Webb said he was unable to see the men's weapons, but he could differentiate the type of weapons from that of the security forces by the sound of the explosions.

Private Webb also testified that other platoon members were unable to fire and hit any of the gunmen because they were not in the best firing positions.

Private Andrew Ledgister, who is attached to Alpha Company, First Jamaica Regiment, Up Park Camp, said under examination by Commission's Counsel Velma Hylton, that at about 8:15 p.m., on July 7, he and a group of soldiers rescued members of the security forces pinned down by gunfire from the direction of Rose Lane and Oxford Street.

Private Ledgister said the group took cover behind some buildings, then moved tactically from North Street to KPH's front gate on Princess Street. They went west on Charles Street on foot and came under heavy gunfire again.

"I attempted to take cover and observed what was taking place," the private testified. "While doing that, I felt a sudden drag on my right leg, and I looked down and saw blood." He said he realised he had been shot.

He said he later saw two men dressed in vests and T-shirts and fired his SLR rifle at them, as they ran across Charles Street. He was taken to the KPH where he was treated.

The private added that he was later discharged and taken to the military hospital at Up Park Camp, where he stayed for two months. He said he was later admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Kingston, where he underwent surgery. Two bullets were taken from below his right knee.

The private said he was unable to say whether the two men running across Charles Street were the ones who shot him. He testified that he fired six shots in all during the gun battle.

The Enquiry continues on Monday.