Why gunmen parade firepower in war games

More than a million dollars of ammunition was estimated to have been unloaded last Wednesday and Thursday as gangsters traded bullets in Kingston in apparent crude war games.

The battlefield was centred in the Kingston Western Police Division, mainly around Sunlight Street and an adjacent section of Arnett Gardens known as Zimbabwe, with Greenwich Street as the line of demarcation.

There were no reports of death or injury, but gangsters from rival factions had high-powered guns blazing at the expense of their financial backers.

Several videos of the firefights that unfolded have been circulating on social media.

In one obtained by The Gleaner, seemingly excited onlookers could be heard celebrating that the community had that much firepower.

However, a concerned father who resides on Sunlight Street told The Gleaner that he woke up two mornings in a row to streets and yards littered with spent casings.

“It did wicked Wednesday night, but a Thursday night was the scariest because it was longer. Mi likkle daughter in her sleep when it start, and every time the rifle bark, she jump,” said the resident, who requested anonymity because of safety fears.

“One a di time it did sound very close, so mi haffi lay down pon her.”

Several homes in the area are primarily made of wood, making them vulnerable to penetration by ammunition.

Sporadic explosions were heard from 9:28 p.m. until 10:05 p.m. Thursday, The Gleaner understands.

Residents said that while they have grown accustomed to the sound of gunfire, it had been a while since that sort of paramilitary power had been on display.

Despite the terrifying soundtrack of staccato gunfire, there was no real intention to kill, disclosed another resident with intimate knowledge of the war games. According to him, it was akin to a parade of armoury – with the going rates of rifle rounds at $40,000 a box and between $25,000 and $30,000 “fi a box or pan a nine bines (bullets)”.

“Nobody nah dead. The gunman dem just a show each other dem hand. If you have three rifle over there, we have five, and shot fi last for days,” the resident, who requested anonymity, said.

“Di man dem weh a fire the shot dem, a nuh dem a buy dem. Right now a man gone to him general or the chopper dem fi money fi load up back di belly dem. Inna war time, di belly weh sure fi full is the strap dem,” he said, adding that gunmen would go hungry to stabilise the defensive line of gangs.

A week ago, the police listed a few men as persons of interest in relation to the ongoing gang violence in that area.

Some have been on wanted lists for months, if not years, as they continue to elude police dragnets but have maintained strong influence in the communities.

The Gleaner understands that a few of the men went in to the police and were interviewed and released.

Head of the Kingston Western Police Division, Superintendent Michael Phipps, could not be reached on Sunday as several calls to his cell phone went unanswered.

The police did not identify those who turned themselves in and were released, but residents say the main influencers would not go in readily.

“When people hear shot a fire dem way deh, dem know who is on the ground. The Christmas look doom already because if dem even run low pon shot, link a mek fi funds reach and stock up right away,” said the resident.

“New Year’s a come and you know dem place yah run. Mi likkle son ask mi Wednesday night if a New Year’s already.”

The men featured on the latest person-of-interest list for Kingston Western are:

* Mark ‘Duddu Bap’ Harley, of Southborough, St Catherine, and Craig Town, Kingston 5.

* Rusheed ‘Guess’ Lyons, of Clarence Road, Kingston 12.

* Roger Allen, of Clarence Road, Craig Town, Kingston 5.

* Shadane ‘Philippine’ McKenzie, of Sunlight Street, Kingston 13.

* Carlington ‘Dumplin’ Lawrence, also from Sunlight Street

* Colin ‘Adums’ Rose, of Arnett Gardens, Kingston 13.

* Stewart ‘Bing’ Burton, also of Arnett Gardens.

* A man known as ‘Heckle’, of Mexico, Arnett Gardens.