Daraine Luton and Petrina Francis, Staff Reporters
A protester walks through a roadblock on Norman Avenue in east Kingston yesterday, where residents protested against the police. The residents blocked the road calling on the police to release three so-called area leaders who were taken into custody on Sunday for questioning in connection with a long-standing feud in Rockfort, which has claimed several lives. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer
GUNSHOTS rang out in sections of Kingston and St. Andrew, yesterday, resulting in the death of at least two persons, the closure of one school and the withdrawal of buses from the August Town community by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).
Parents pulled their children from the August Town Primary School in St. Andrew following shooting in the east St. Andrew community early Monday morning.
And before the day ended, a man was shot and killed in the Lucas Avenue area of Rockfort, east Kingston. The incident is believed to be linked to an ongoing gang feud in Rockfort which has claimed several lives.
Police have identified the man killed in August Town as 25-year-old Neil Bolton of Bedward Gardens in the community. He was shot seven times after he was ambushed by gunmen. The police said they were later shot at by the gunmen.
Corporal Oneil Patterson said the police theorise that the killing was a reprisal for a shooting which took place last Thursday.
Protesters shot at
Meanwhile, protesters in the Rockfort community were shot at by gunmen under the nose of the police. The protesters, mainly women, were demonstrating against acts of violence in their community and simultaneously demanded the release of three so-called area leaders detained by the police on Sunday.
The area leaders known to many as George Flash, Anthony Brown and 'Mandez' were detained on Sunday and police believe they can help them in their investigations.
According to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), the protesters, in the presence of the police, blocked the road at the intersection of Norman and Lucas avenues in the community. They soon came under fire from gunmen and this led to a shoot-out with the lawmen. No one was injured in the shoot-out.
The eventful day culminated with four families being displaced after two houses was razed in Norman Gardens, Rockfort.
Phillip Paulwell, the elected political representative for the area said he would be calling on the security forces to redouble their efforts to bring the escalation in crime under control.
"I will be calling on the security forces to be relentless in pursuing those involved in murder and mayhem and to go after the guns and ammunition," said Paulwell.
But residents of the area said it is high time Mr. Paulwell walk the community to get an understanding of what they are feeling.
"If it even mean seh him wear a bullet-proof vest, but him must put him foot in yah," a woman told The Gleaner yesterday.
The women from the Oliver Road area of the community believe they are under attack. Less than two weeks ago, 26 year-old Serita Ballentine was gunned down there. While she fought a losing battle to survive the six bullets she took, her attackers relieved her of cash, a cellular phone and some fish which she was going to prepare for dinner.
Meanwhile, the August Town shooting led to the Jamaica Teacher's Association (JTA) renewing its call for a safe zone around schools.
"The Government should move with haste to implement the safe school policy ...because once this is implemented this should help with a greater level of policing of the communities," said Hopeton Henry, president of the JTA.
Morlton Wilson, principal of the August Town Primary School, told The Gleaner that classes were suspended after a barrage of gunshots were fired near the school while devotion was in progress yesterday morning.
Mr. Wilson noted that this scared the children who ran and hid under desks in the classrooms. Some anxious parents, he said, rushed onto the compound and took their children home.
