Protest over police shooting jolts Old Harbour Bay

Old Harbour Bay was rocked on Thursday by a fiery protest following the shooting of a 22-year-old man by the police a day earlier.

Angered by the shooting injury, residents of the St Catherine seaside town used abandoned appliances and debris to block Banana Road in the proximity of the fishing village.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Damion Manderson pleaded for calm as protesters ignored coronavirus protocols on mask wearing and social distancing to vent their ire. The senior cop said that a gun allegedly seized from the suspect had been sent for forensic testing. Police personnel involved in the incident have reportedly been removed from front-line duty.

“I am asking that those who have seen (what happened) to call me. I am somewhat disappointed that the residents have not called me,” Manderson said.

The deputy superintendent of police said that the police had responded to reports of gunfire in Old Harbour Bay about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

The mainly women protesters used old refrigerators, stoves, stones, and stalls to block access to the Old Harbour Fishing Village and other areas.

While the protesters painted the narrative of the shooting victim as innocent, the police account differs.

The police told The Gleaner that the accused was suspected of involvement in the East Empire Gang, a criminal network operating in the once-quiet fishing village.

“He was charged and convicted for possession of firearm and ammunition and was the subject of two violent shootings since his release,” Manderson said.

Relatives of the injured man, who is under police guard in hospital, said on Thursday that although he had been convicted of other crimes, he was being targeted by law enforcers.

“Yes, is mi bredda. He was charged for a gun, but the police take set pon him and let him out to shoot him,” said Crystal Parchment.

“A God save him!” she added.

Her claims were echoed by others who said that the accused man had been accused of shooting a cop.

The Independent Commission of Investigations has launched a probe into the incident.

A Gleaner investigation last year unearthed that smugglers were using Old Harbour Bay as a key trans-shipment node in the drugs-for-guns trade with Haiti, pocketing huge profits for weapons of war.

Fisherfolk doubling as middlemen have built a seedy network of clients spanning Kingston, St Catherine, and St James.