Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE FATAL shooting of Michael 'Banner' Granstan, reportedly one of St. James' most notorious criminals, by the police on Sunday has given residents in the rural district of York Land near Somerton in the parish a sense of relief.
The death of the 28-year-old marks the end of his grip on the farming community and a year-long-plus reign of terror in St. James and Hanover.
"We rejoice, man, when we see the police wid di bwoy body," an elderly man told The Gleaner. "Yuh know how much people leave here since him come yah."
According to residents, they now feel free from the fear that gripped the farming district in the past three months.
During that time, Granstan allegedly robbed several residents, wounded a man in a chopping incident and raped two women in the area.
Residents, mainly farmers, who had reportedly fled their homes in fright, are slowly returning.
Granstan's demise came nearly 48 hours after he brutally murdered 54-year-old Zueth Ellis, a retired district constable in the same area, last Friday evening.
Ellis was shot twice in the left side of his face and neck in front of patrons at his roadside cook shop. He was reportedly among Granstan's eight victims killed in St. James and Hanover.
Gerald, Ellis' son, contended that Granstan, originally from Mount Salem, St. James, had accused his father of being "a police informer".
According to him, the gangster blamed his father for an attempt by the police to nab him earlier this year and issued several threats against his father, which were reported to the police.
