News

The flash points of Mountain View Avenue and Red Hills Road erupted Sunday night and kept the security forces busy yesterday as thugs supporting Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke launched attacks across the Corporate Area.

The gunmen, believed to be from communities aligned to the governing Jamaica Labour Party such as 'Back Bush', off Mountain View Avenue, and 'Commons', off Red Hills Road, engaged the police in lengthy and deadly shoot-outs for most of Sunday night into Monday morning.

Mountain View Avenue was to prove the most deadly battleground for the police as gunmen shot eight members of the force, two fatally.

The Constabulary Com-munication Network reported that about 11:26 Sunday night, a woman turned up at the Rockfort Police Station saying she had been shot while driving along Mountain View Avenue. She also told the cops that another motorist had been attacked by armed men.

Police from the East Kingston Division went to assist and came under sustained gunfire, during which two of them were hit.

Other officers who went to rescue their colleagues were also fired at, resulting in six of them being shot.

The situation was eventually brought under control and the injured policemen taken to hospital where Sergeant Wayne Henriques and Constable Jason Davis were pronounced dead.

Two of the cops were treated and discharged, while four remained in hospital in stable condition up to late yesterday.

In the meantime, Red Hills Road was a no-go area yesterday as most businesses remained closed.

Business operators and residents woke to find several blockades mounted on Red Hills Road, above Red Hills Boulevard. These had been mounted by thugs who had engaged the police in a lengthy gun battle Sunday night into yesterday morning.

The mayhem started shortly before 8 Sunday night when criminals started to block sections of Red Hills Road.

The police responded and the gunmen opened fire with high-powered weapons before making their escape.

Shortly before 1 p.m. yesterday, members of the security forces had managed to clear most of the blockades but occasional gunfire was still being heard in the area.