MP fears Whitfield Town turning on itself amid surge in violence
Published:Friday | September 13, 2024 | 12:10 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
St Andrew South Western Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Angela Brown-Burke has denounced a recent upsurge in violence in Whitfield Town as the security forces impose a curfew to restore calm.
The 48-hour curfew began at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, but that did not deter criminals from engaging in a shoot-out in the wee hours of Thursday morning, setting houses on fire and displacing many residents.
The onslaught was centred along lower Fitzgerald Avenue in the vicinity of Waltham Park Road.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Brown-Burke said she was “deeply concerned about what is happening on the ground and the recent upsurge in violence.
“We know that the curfew would have started from [Wednesday] night, which also would say just how brazen some of the individuals are because at the same time we’re suppose to be having curfew, we have these kinds of activities taking place.”
Brown-Burke urged the police to do a deep assessment of the situation that hopefully, would lead to an extension of the curfew.
“I think it would be needed that the curfew will continue. And certainly their (police’s) presence would be continued. I believe, also, we have to get to the point where individuals in the community feel safe, where the police are able to apprehend those that are involved and that we can reduce the tension in the community and reduce threat and violence in the community,” Brown-Burke said.
The MP, who said she visited the community on Wednesday, added that the residents would feel assured by a longer police presence.
“I think that will alleviate some fears, and persons will feel a little bit safer tonight (Thursday) than they did yesterday (Wednesday),” Brown-Burke said.
“We have persons who have been chased out of the community. We have had persons who have been shot, persons whose homes have been set on fire. What that says is that these are issues that we have to get to the bottom of and that it is important for the police to be able to hold everyone who is involved responsible. Otherwise, we are talking about a community, basically, turning in on itself.”
On Wednesday morning, gunmen shot and killed 23-year-old construction worker Marlon Thompson, of a 17 Lane address along Fitzgerald Avenue, Kingston 13.
The Hunts Bay police say that some time after 8:30 a.m., explosions were heard in the area, and residents later found the now-deceased suffering from multiple wounds. He succumbed to his injuries at hospital.
In a possible reprisal, gunmen traded bullets along lower Fitzgerald Avenue on Thursday morning.
The Jamaica Fire Brigade was also summoned to extinguish fires set to several homes in the area.
Since then, several residents have started to move out of the community.
As at September 7, the St Andrew South Police Division recorded a 19 per cent reduction in murders since the start of the year. The division had recorded 67 murder victims, 16 fewer when compared to the corresponding period in 2023.
The islandwide murder toll stood at 806 last Saturday, a 17 per cent reduction year on year.