Shock over bike show murder of Clarendon mechanic
Published:Monday | December 20, 2021 | 12:09 AM
An employer of murdered mechanic Marlon ‘Irons’ Salmon said news that his mentor had been shot was a horrifying reminder of an incident in which Salmon was shot at his Denbigh Crescent-based workshop in Clarendon last year.
Remembering the 2020 incident, Cloyous Lewin said that he bawled as he feared that Salmon, who was hospitalised, would not have survived that attack. He believed then that God had played a hand in Salmon staying alive.
But that fortune was absent on Saturday night when he was shot dead at an illegal bike show in Wood Hall in the parish.
“Last night mi haffi ride go up deh go look pon the man lay down pon the ground pon the bike,” recounted Lewin.
Reports from the May Pen police are that about 8:15 p.m., Salmon was standing along the roadway when he was shot at point-blank range.
Lewin told The Gleaner that Salmon was like a father to him, taking Lewin under his wing after he left high school.
“Him more than good ... . A everybody father. Yuh nuh think ‘bout hungry yah so. A him make me know bike. Me get the fuss ride off a bike a him bike show. Me see man all lef’ Mobay with him engine in a box and come and say, ‘Yuh know me see a likkle youth and stop him and ask him ‘bout him bike and him tell me bout Clarendon, May Pen, and Irons’... the man lef all the way from Mobay,” emphasised Lewin.
He also lauded Salmon for always encouraging him to tap into new work opportunities.
Bikers who gathered at Salmon’s shop on Sunday described him as a decent man who was enthused about imparting knowledge and skills to youth in Clarendon.
“A whole heap a youth him [teach] trade, you know. When you come round yah so, round yah so full a bwoy, and all a them a learn trade,” said one biker, who requested that his name not be published.
Best bike man
Hours after Salmon was gunned down, an elderly man was seen making his way to the shop Salmon operated on Denbigh Crescent.
Not cognisant that Salmon had met his tragic demise on Saturday night, he told the news team: “Me a come look fi Irons fi sort out dah horn yah pan dah bike yah. It nah work good.”
He was gutted by news of Irons’ death, calling him “the best bike man ‘bout the place” who was willing to extend the courtesy of delayed payment for services rendered.
Bikers in Clarendon say the late mechanic was revered as a promoter of one of the biggest bike shows in the parish.
One resident who requested anonymity said he was shocked to hear of Salmon’s murder.
“He’s a man weh popular ... . The whole a Jamaica know Irons. Is a good youth to me. Him fix everybody bike in the community,” he said.
The incident is one of several party shootings across the country amid a government-imposed ban on entertainment events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday night, six people, including a 12-year-old boy, were shot at an illegal party in Manchester.
A 24-year-old man was also killed at an illegal bike show in Kingston last month.