Shooting spree
Sunlight Street factions continue to wage ‘ugly’ war
Published:Friday | June 30, 2023 | 1:28 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
A police team came under fire on Wednesday in the tense Sunlight Street area in Arnett Gardens, St Andrew, where a deadly gang conflict has prompted two divisional commanders to work more closely to stem the murders and sporadic shootings.
Senior Superintendent Michael Phipps, who heads the Kingston Western Police Division, confirmed that some of his men came under heavy gunfire as gunmen engaged them in a shoot-out in the Zimbabwe area.
Phipps previously told The Gleaner that the friends-turned-enemies are behind the bitter rivalry with the fracturing of the Sunlight Street gang.
The ‘Philippine’ and ‘Jack A Diamond’ factions are reportedly responsible for the conflict, which has caused the security forces to increase their presence in the affected communities.
The latest fatal attack took place on Tuesday along Lyndhurst Close when gunmen struck, hitting two men, one fatally.
The deceased has been identified as 27-year-old Ackerman Duhaney, otherwise known as ‘Esco’.
The other victim, who was shot in the shoulder, remains hospitalised.
Head of the St Andrew Central Police Division, Senior Superintendent Marlon Nesbeth, said investigations have so far suggested that the murder is connected to issues in the neighbouring Kingston Western division.
The senior crime fighter said that the deadly attacks are unfolding whenever persons from high-crime areas venture into St Andrew Central and become more vulnerable.
Tuesday’s deadly shooting followed a double murder in the area on Sunday. Jaheim ‘Jah Jah’ Walker and Tajay Watson, both 20, were murdered on West Road in an area called Zimbabwe about 9:30 a.m.
Investigators believe Walker was the target of that attack because of his affiliation with men from Zimbabwe, which is connected to the top section of Sunlight Street. They believe men from the bottom section – the Philippine faction – carried out the attack.
One resident lamented the impact of the violence in the area.
“Is about an hour shot a fire for. We had to get flat. House shot up and car shot up … . This war is ugly because it’s clearly kill for kill. It can reach a stage where people have to stop going to work because dem a shoot you anywhere,” a resident told The Gleaner.
18 WANTED MEN
The police have since listed 18 men as wanted in relation to various crimes in the division.
Two of the men – Carlington Lawrence, otherwise called ‘Dumplin’, of Sunlight Street, and Neeco Waldron, otherwise called ‘Bun Dog’ – have been listed as wanted for murders and shootings.
The Gleaner reported last week that the Sunlight Street murders continued despite a peace agreement brokered by the police earlier this year.
The police believe close to 10 people have been killed in relation to the Sunlight Street gang violence since January.
Up to June 24, the Kingston Western Police Division had seen a 25 per cent jump in murders while the figures plummeted by 43 per cent year on year in St Andrew Central.
Forty people have been murdered in Kingston Western, up from 32 for the corresponding period in 2022.
St Andrew Central had seen 15 fewer murders this year.
Nationally, murder figures are trending 13 per cent below the 2022 tally, with 628 people killed since January this year.