Karlene O'Connor and Petrina Francis, Gleaner Writers

Veronica Wallace mourns the death of her son Gary Pierce, who was a student of the Tarrant High School. Pierce was murdered adjacent to the entrance of the school yesterday. A man of an unknown address was also killed, while a student of Haile Selassie High School was stabbed and injured. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Just one week before the end of the school year, another student's life has been brutally snuffed out.

An area adjacent to the Tarrant High School, St. Andrew, was the scene of a shooting yesterday which took the lives of 15-year-old Gary Pierce, a student of the school and Donovan McLean, a construction worker of a Tarrant Drive address.

Another individual who was present and said to be a student of the Haile Selassie High School in Kingston was hospitalised, nursing stab wounds.

According to Corporal Cheree Greaves of the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), about 1:30 in the afternoon, a group of men stabbed a student, then opened fire, hitting Pierce and McLean. All three persons were standing adjacent to the school.

Not allowed inside

"If dem did just let him in, him wouldn't dead," wailed a distraught Veronica Wallace, mother of Pierce, seated in a police car some distance away from where the body of her son was lying.

A neighbour, who identified herself as Annette, told The Gleaner that Pierce had been refused entry to the school by the school's security guard because he was not wearing his school uniform.

Pierce, who, according to his older brother Lowel Anderson, was not supposed to be at school as he was not having any exams, left home without his knowledge. Still in shock, Anderson told The Gleaner "it's just a part a life." This he said repeatedly.

Ongoing feud

Describing Pierce as a good child and an ardent churchgoer, Annette commented., "Him neva mix up inna violence inna Waterhouse yet, an come up here come dead."

This, she said, while commenting on the social environment in Waterhouse where Pierce was a resident. She speculated that it may have been linked to an ongoing feud between a group of students, some of whom had been suspended from school. However, the police could not confirm this.

Between sobs, Wallace muttered that Pierce had recently celebrated his birthday. The Gleaner was unable to get a comment from either the school administration or residents, who remained tight-lipped about the incident.

Up to press time, the status of the injured person could not be ascertained.

Meanwhile, a frustrated Hopeton Henry, president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) condemned the incident and urged the Ministry of Education and Youth to move swiftly to ensure that students are protected while they are in school zones.

"The Ministry of Education now needs to come out, now needs to be more decisive and put some means in place to stop the bloodshed," Mr. Henry said.

"The note on which we are closing the term and with an election pending, I hardly think that we are going to have time to implement any new strategy by September," said the JTA boss.

He added: "The Ministry of Education is tardy, they are dragging their feet and more children are dying and will continue to die".

Meanwhile, Senator Noel Monteith, State Minister in the Ministry of Education and Youth described yesterday's incident as a "very sad occasion" it did not occur on the school compound.

"We denounce these kinds of incidents. It is unfortunate and they shouldn't happen," Senator Monteith said,".

He noted that his ministry had contacted the Attorney General's office, seeking advice on creating a safe zone around schools.

"But we have to interface with the different ministries in order for them to be implemented," he added.

Yesterday's shooting was the second such incident in school zones in three days. On Tuesday an 11 year-old student and a man who is believed to be mentally ill were shot and injured by a policeman on the grounds of the Ardenne High School, St. Andrew.