Shattered innocence

Dozens of children who witnessed last month’s murders of five people in Rockfort, East Kingston, are still suffering from psychological trauma. Some have reportedly become silent and fearful of the dark, while others have been violently acting out, leaving their parents and school administrators in a daunting fight to reach them.

The five dead men were identified as brothers, fathers, and close friends of the children, who were all at a community get-together when the gunmen struck late in the evening of October 22. Since then, their parents and teachers at the Norman Gardens and Windward Road primary schools – where many affected students attend – said there has been a noticeable change in some students’ behaviours.

A 10-year-old Norman Gardens Primary student had just spelled the winning word – science – beating out at least eight other children at the event. She and her friends were at the height of their celebration, revving with optimism to also win the bun-eating competition that was to come. But their celebrations were shortlived, shattered by a volley of gunshots and then chaos.

The gangsters turned their weapons on the men – a red laser trailing from victim to victim, residents said – and made sure those on the ground were indeed dead before leaving.

One young girl reportedly took cover in a nearby shop in which the killer’s aim hovered over her through the windows and doors. She was about to make a run for it, but was held back by a gentleman who was also hiding in the bar.

When the shooting ended, she and others darted down a hill from the event to their homes, all the time calling out for their parents, as other parents called out for their children in the bedlam. Since then, the children in the community have not been the same.

Some children have reportedly given up on school, bent on avenging their murdered relatives. Others play out the deathly scene at school, using violence, intimidation, and talk of the gun against their peers. Still, some relate how the dead men received “pure head shots”, while others have become docile, fearful, and distrustful of adults, particularly persons in authority.

One of the girls, a usually punctual and eager student, now prefers arriving at school later since the incident.

“She is a quiet student, she is intelligent, and she loves spelling and her schoolwork, but she doesn’t like to leave out early in the mornings again. Now she rather waits until after 7:00, when it brightens out, to go to school,” related her mother, adding that the girl is still grappling with the trauma of her older brother’s murder in the community a few years ago.

Last month’s incident has reignited those painful memories for the family, the mother said. Pointing to a spot along the roadway not far from where she stood on Friday, she said her son collapsed there not long after being shot.

“It affects her and it affects me because remember me lost a son ... and she lost a brother. So it is like it brings back memories. She never handled her brother’s death well. She had to get counselling on top of counselling … . Even recently, her teacher said she was in class and she just broke out in tears because she misses her brother,” Fearon said, adding that the young girl wants to be a medical doctor or a cop, and remains steadfast in her studies.

“She always says she is going to get justice for her brother,” Fearon said ominously.

NO DESIRE TO ATTEND SCHOOL

Another youngster whose father and grandfather were killed during the attack has reportedly lost the desire to attend school. Minutes before the shooting, he was a picture of happiness, residents said, noting his fierce competition with the others for the top spot in the spelldown before the explosions.

“Is one word he missed and he dropped out of the [spelling] competition. ...When he missed the word, he held his head and walked away,” said Tricia, a resident of the community.

“Him father dead, and him grandfather dead. ... He is going to grow with that, so you know how that goes,” continued Tricia, noting that another eight-year-old female student who witnessed the killings was involved in an altercation in which she injured another student at school last week.

“Her father died when she was seven months old, her uncle died after that, and now her father’s best friend, who took care of her, died this time around. She is severely traumatised by all of this,” relayed another resident.

The residents spoke of a one-year-old who, since the incident, has been terrified of the dark and screams whenever left alone. That child was at the event.

Police said a suspect in the killing of the five men was fatally shot in another section of Rockfort hours after the incident, and that sleuths have tied the murders to a gang rivalry that has links overseas. The area has since been under heavy security by police and soldiers. Their presence is welcomed by the adults, but for the affected children, it is a different, more complicated story, school administrators explained.

COPING DIFFERENTLY

Two guidance counsellors and a student social worker at the Norman Gardens Primary School, where many of the affected students attend, said some are deeply fearful of the security forces. Some stare silently into space and are inattentive in classes. Others, particularly the “macho” boys, re-enact what happened that evening; their more timid counterparts shy away for fear of seeming weak.

“We have one grade three student, who was there, threatening another that he will get a man to shoot out his head. We have those who are afraid to go home. Students who are afraid of the soldiers, some who feel safe that the soldiers are there and are afraid of the uncertainty of what will happen when the soldiers are gone,” Norman Gardens Primary guidance counsellor Taneshia Tomlinson-Goodlit told The Sunday Gleaner. For that eight-year-old student, Tomlinson-Goodlit said, “Daddy has gone to work.”

Some students have been taken into individual counselling sessions, though this approach doesn’t work for all; some become silent and withdrawn in one-on-one settings, explained Rhionnans Spence, a student social worker. She expressed concern about the social and familial challenges facing these children, noting that some are tragically exposed to images of the deceased, sometimes shown to them by their parents.

“One of my students knew the persons who died. He was there, and when the shots started firing, he ran through the bushes and went home,” shared Tanisha Pitters-Montaque, acting principal at Windward Road Primary and Junior High School. She said the school has been offering assistance to affected students but noted that the curfew in the community is a challenge for most.

“Some of them (students) would leave from here to go to other extra classes. One of the students I spoke to yesterday said she could not stay for extra class because of the curfew and that she had to go home. But one thing is that our students are always present,” she said, echoing sentiments by her colleagues at Norman Gardens Primary, that to most students, school is a sanctuary from their chaotic communities.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com