Waterhouse residents in fear as gangsters clash
Published:Monday | July 23, 2018 | 12:00 AMCorey Robinson/Staff Reporter
Sections of the Balcombe Drive community in St Andrew are again cowering in fear following the murder of a man and the shooting of another in less than a week by rivalling thugs from the area.
Head of the St Andrew South Police Station, Superintendent Gary Francis, told The Gleaner that the dead man, identified as Tennisto Davis, 24, was ambushed and shot on Primrose Drive last Thursday.
The other man was shot and injured in what residents described as a blazing shootout on nearby 'Station Road' in the community on Saturday night.
Francis said that investigators believed both shooting incidents may have been linked to the latest flare-up of a feud between the 'Top Lyrics' and 'Bottom Lyrics' gangs in the area.
"There was a shooting incident and the investigation into it is still going on. I know one man was shot in the leg. That person has not yet given us a statement," said Francis, explaining that sleuths visited the injured man at hospital, but requested that he visit the station to make an official statement.
Victim 'disappeared'
Since the man's release from hospital, he has subsequently "disappeared" from the community, said Francis.
"He might have his reasons as to why he has not come in to give a statement, but we are asking him and anyone else with information to come to the police," said Francis, confirming that no one else has come forward as being injured in that incident.
Residents of Balcombe Avenue, which intersects with Primrose Drive, fear that the incidents might be the start of renewed tensions in the area. They were, however, tight-lipped about their speculation.
"It feels like the place a get back tense again, and I don't know what is happening, but the lighting in the area is a problem. None of the street lights area working and at nights, the place is very dark," said one female resident in the community.
"All I hear is a barrage of gunshots on Saturday and I just come out and lock my grille and go back in. I hear that somebody get shot, but I couldn't tell you is who or how it go," offered an elderly man, one of few people who spoke freely to the news team.