Heroism amid bloodshed

There were many acts of heroism as the Cherry Tree Lane massacre unfolded in Four Paths, Clarendon, last Sunday. From residents who opened their doors to those scampering for cover to others who, without hesitation, bloodied their vehicles to transport the wounded to hospital where another set of heroes took charge, the community came together in remarkable ways.

Perhaps the most valiant of them, however, is Jake*, a young man who risked his safety to save an injured one-year-old as the chaos unfolded. Like most, however, Jake would rather remain unsung, fearful his story and efforts could result in the attackers’ return.

Four days on, the residents faced a lingering, more ominous fear when The Sunday Gleaner visited the community last Thursday. This fear was vastly different from the immediate terror of Sunday night, when gunshots, blood, and the sight of dead and injured laying about had created a scene of chaos and panic.

With the motive for the attack still moot and the brutality of the assailants still vivid, Cherry Tree Lane remained tense, even with the area teeming with the security forces.

For the residents, those who dared try to carry on their lives, it has been a nightmarish wait until the 6:00 curfew each evening. After that, they retreat into their homes, alone, and still perplexed at the tragedy.

Unprecedented evil

Eighteen persons were shot, eight of them dead, including a seven-year-old boy, in the two-location onslaught, marking an unprecedented evil for a country that has seen a slew of multiple killings and shootings in recent history with Clarendon among the parishes most noted for them.

Jake, who handles blood in the course of his work, is happy he is still breathing and responded indifferently as his peers called him a hero last week. He didn’t see himself as a hero, just a man high on adrenaline and fear.

“I’ve seen a lot of blood in my work, but dem kinda blood there is not for people to see,” he said last Thursday, recalling the death and destruction before him as he emerged from a hiding spot behind gambling boxes in the ill-fated car wash and bar, the scene of the initial and more devastating attack.

He readied himself, chain-smoking two cigarettes as he continued, recalling how from his hiding spot he coaxed the screaming baby into his arms, cuffed his mouth tightly, and sat in fear as the gunmen ran rampant metres away outside the establishment.

“From me hear the two first explosions and me look ‘round, bredda is just the man (shooter) that just a move to everybody. Everybody weh run, him just a move to,” continued Jake. “[One woman] was in front of me and she run off. Me meck fi move with har, but – me nah tell a man seh me nuh panic, but even with the panic, me still a think – and me seh, ‘No, if me move, me dead’.”

He said it was as if the space behind the gambling box was made just for him as he fit perfectly out of the gunmen’s line of sight. That’s when the screaming toddler entered the shop.

“The baby went towards the back door, and I said, ‘Psssst’, and him look ‘round, and me seh, ‘come’, and him come,” continued Jake. “And me hold him and seh, ‘Stop di noise’.”

It took several minutes before the shooting subsided, and when Jake emerged from his hiding spot, all he saw “was just pure dead body”.

Following the chaos, Jake said he could not find the child’s parents, so he handed the young boy to another man. It was long after that he realised the section of his shirt where he had held the youngster was soaked in blood – and that it was not his.

Dr Bradley Edwards, senior medical officer at the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon, reported on Thursday that the infant was among all but two injured victims who remained at hospital. The others have been sent home. One of the remaining two is admitted in recovery, and the other awaiting an expensive piece of equipment for surgery on a broken thigh bone.

“Fortunately, no major surgeries had to be done on any of these patients who were released, so there was no cutting of any of them. Most of it (injuries) were significant enough injuries for us to observe, but nothing for us to operate on,” said Edwards, thankfully.

“They were mainly flesh wounds. The bullets went right through with an entry and exit wound. There is no vascular damage or damage to the blood vessels. It is as if they got a knife cut and it didn’t damage anything. But it just happens to be bullets that were involved,” he said, explaining the gravity of the heavily bandaged arm and leg of two of the released victims seen in the community last week.

On Thursday, abandoned slippers, overturned bookmarkers, and fly-infested blood stains still marked the spots where the dead and injured laid after the festivities at the birthday bingo party abruptly ended.

Residents pointed to the spots and called the victims by name; others displayed bloodied car seats.

Deaf cousin

At least three of the dead were from one household, and Debian Francis, 48, who lost her daughter Kavle Daley, husband Lawrence Francis, 50, and deaf cousin Courtney Messam, has been in shambles ever since the incident.

“Dem teck me baby from me, dem teck me husband from me, dem teck me cousin from me, but is only God knows. Me husband dead inna me hand,” cried a despondent Francis, looking on as police sleuths revisited the scene, and members of the Victims Support Unit in the Ministry of Justice tried their best with bereaved and traumatised relatives and friends.

“Kerry (Kavle) get a shot in her head. When me turn over her head, a blood me see a come through her two ears, and when me look me see some of her marrow coming through her nose. I said, ‘Jesus Christ, dem kill Kerry. ‘Cause I didn’t know she was shot before, ... but it is when me a shake her and see that she nah get up, me turn ‘round her face,” said Francis, adding that since the incident sleep has been elusive and food has taken on a sour taste.

Messam, who residents said only ran because he saw others running, was shot in the face, reportedly after he looked back.

Lawrence Francis was chased and shot by the attackers and was later found in bushes. His body still twitched, residents said, as he was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Kavle, 27, reportedly died beside 20-year-old Diamond Bennett, whose mother Marjorie Johnson has resorted to shunning reality as a coping mechanism.

“Every morning me wake me cry, every night me go me bed me cry. Diamond nuh live no life yet; none at all,” she said. “When dem say Diamond dead, ... just don’t mention it because me nuh really want to come to the reality that it really happen. Just don’t mention it.

“Every scroll me scroll through social media, every move me move, it is it replaying over and over again. Sometimes even if the phone ringing, I don’t want to answer it. I don’t want to take any messages. Me a try fi save meself because me realise me head ... , me have to go to doctor between now and Saturday,” she feared.

Also among the dead were seven-year-old Aiden Bartley; Errol Stewart, 58; Jermaine Boothe, 32; and a woman identified as ‘Margaret’. They were all of Cherry Tree Lane addresses.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness last week declared the incident one of terror, and that its perpetrators cannot be treated as ordinary criminals.

“We know that persons overseas are involved and connected in this act. We know that multiple gangs are connected and involved in this act. Every gang, every person who in any way facilitated, provided the arms or were involved and pulled the trigger themselves, we will find you and we will bring you to justice,” Holness said.

Detained at least five men

Last week, police investigators said they had detained at least five men and fatally shot another, identified as Steve Smith or ‘Thicka’ or ‘Fly Brain’, on Wednesday, who they said engaged members of the security forces in a gun battle in Osbourne Store in the parish.

“Our investigation has made significant progress, revealing connections to at least six previous violent incidents in Clarendon. These incidents include a quadruple murder in Havana Heights in 2021, a murder committed on April 21, 2024, and a subsequent shooting and arson on April 25 in West Park. The other incidents include a murder on April 29 on Cherry Tree Lane; a murder on May 11 along Foga Road, May Pen; as well as a murder that was committed on May 15 in York Town,” offered Acting Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey.

“Unfortunately, our findings indicate that these local violent issues have international roots and incorporated local players, some of whom are incarcerated. These individuals, who were once friends in Jamaica, had a falling out in the United States over the spoils from crime, leading to each taking homicidal contracts to incite fear and terror.”

*Name changed to protect identity.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com

Notable multiple murders in Jamaica’s history

• Gunmen kill four in Duanvale, Trelawny (Oct 2023)

• Seven shot, four killed in Park Lane, St Andrew attack (July 2021)

• Four slain in Mountain View, St Andrew, after home invasion (Sept 2021)

• Seven murdered, eight injured in Grange Hill, Westmoreland (May 2018)

• Five persons killed in March Pen, St Catherine, shooting and arson (Oct 2016)

• Five shot, four dead in Norwood, St James (Dec 2016)

• Six murdered in gruesome Hanover slaughter (Oct 2015)

• Eight victims, including an 11-year-old girl killed in Tredegar Park, Spanish Town, St Catherine (Aug 2010)

• Seven killed, including a four-month old baby in Norman Gardens, East Kingston (Oct 2007)

• Five persons murdered in Prospect and Needham Pen in St Thomas (Feb 2006)