‘Cowboy and Indian’ shoot-out leaves two dead in Burnside Valley
Mother of deceased man says she pleaded with him to return home
Published:Thursday | May 16, 2024 | 12:11 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
The Major Investigation Division (MID) is probing the alleged cowboy and Indian-like bizarre double murder and shooting in Burnside Valley, Red Hills, which left two attackers dead and another man nursing life-threatening gunshot wounds.
Information reaching The Gleaner is that the deceased, 21-year-old Quwayne Lee and Theo Bailey, are alleged to have carried out a gun attack in the hilly terrain community, injuring a man in the process.
The Gleaner further understands that the first attack took place at the work site of the now-injured man.
The police have since confirmed that this is the theory of their probe.
Further information is that the man ran from his attackers to his home and was chased.
“They went to kick off a door, and someone else intervened, and they are now dead,” a source close to the investigation told The Gleaner.
The source further revealed that they were surprised by a man who is alleged to have opened gunfire on Lee and Bailey, killing them on the spot.
The incident occurred sometime after 9 a.m.
When The Gleaner arrived at the scene, Lee’s mother was crying inconsolably and questioned the Lord for her belly pain.
“Father, wah mek ya beat me so? What have I ever done wrong? Jesus, what I ever done?” she questioned aloud, looking over a precipice, where the two bodies lay in a dirt track.
Lee’s mother said she told her son to come home on several occasions.
She said she last saw him on Saturday when he and Bailey visited her home to fix the roof.
Lee was reportedly staying with Bailey in the community.
“Mi say, ‘Come home, Quwayne. Come home where me can see you, Quwayne’. Mi pray for unuh. Mi beg God cover unuh,” she bemoaned.
“Fada God, why yuh do this, Jesus?… Mi beg mi son fi come home, and him wouldn’t stop til dem kill him,” she said within earshot of our news team and onlookers.
Lee’s mother said she last spoke to him on Tuesday, and according to her, he was not a troublemaker.
“Mi pickney a nuh troublemaker. Ya haffi trouble him fi him trouble yuh,” she wailed, claiming that she would not be the only mother to bawl and band her belly.
Feuding factions
There was not much word from the residents who stood and watched as the police processed the crime scene.
A senior investigator told The Gleaner that the police were searching for a relative of the injured man, who they believed could help with the investigation.
The firearms used are also of interest to the police, who combed the area and collected spent casings.
The Gleaner understands that yesterday’s shootings resulted from an altercation between the feuding factions on Tuesday night when shots were fired in the community.
The police went to investigate, but attempts to get to the players involved were futile.
“We came to the community, but because of the location, they know when the police patrol team is approaching … The residents are fearful, so you don’t get much from them … Today’s cowboy and Indian shoot-out is a result of people who choose to remain silent,” a lawman told The Gleaner.
Residents complained of the deplorable conditions of the road and told The Gleaner that it was a deterrent to even the police visiting the area more often.
Increased police personnel were deployed to the area and moved from house to house, trying to reassure the residents of their safety.
The St Andrew North Police Division has recorded several murders over the past week and a half, which has not been captured and made public in the Jamaica Constabulary Force statistical data just yet.
As at May 4, the division recorded 17 murders, on par year on year.
There was a 23 per cent increase in shootings, with five more incidents than the corresponding period in 2023.
Since the start of the year, more persons have suffered injuries.
Rape is down 50 per cent, robberies down 47 per cent, and break-ins declined by 46 per cent.