Shattered peace

Upset that seven years of relative calm have been broken with Saturday night’s mass shooting incident, which left three people dead on Bowen Road, Kingston 11, residents say they no longer have an interest in maintaining efforts at keeping the peace with their Crescent Road neighbours.

The residents of the St Andrew community are further incensed by posts on social media, reportedly by men from Crescent Road, in which individuals are seen boasting that the men from Bowen Road had to run.

“A three people dead and five people deh a hospital. Wey yuh think a guh happen? You think the community really a guh siddung and tek it?” one resident said as he sat along the roadway with other community members.

Two of those killed have been identified as Kingston 13 residents Kemar Hardware, 35, the son of well-known singer Singing Melody and a bar owner of Steven Lane; and Steven Myers, 19, of Harvey Road. The third person who lost his life has been identified as 63-year-old Ricardo Baker.

Official reports from the police are that about 11:40 p.m., the men were among a group of persons on the roadway when armed men travelling on foot opened gunfire at the group, hitting all eight persons before escaping.

The injured persons were taken to the hospital, where the three men were pronounced dead. The other injured persons were admitted.

According to residents, the culprits, who they have identified as men from Crescent Road, entered the community after jumping a wall by the cemetery.

The residents claimed that the men were armed with rifles and chased, shot, and killed the victims.

Two pairs of Crocs and a single sandal, which were scattered along the roadway near the blood-stained area where the men fell, were evidence of the vicious attack that had unfolded.

Hardware’s mother, who broke down in tears as she spoke to the media, said her son was a “peacemaker” and did not deserve to die in such a manner.

“He is a nice youth. Him always try fi cry peace. Him nuh inna di problem wid nobody,” she said, noting that he had recently opened his bar in the community, where the injured men had collapsed.

Shot before

The woman said her son had been shot three times before, including twice in the community, but was always focused on maintaining peace.

However, she, like other residents, does not want her son’s death and those of the others to go unpunished.

“Dem kill mi pickney fi nothing at all, and dem kill mi pickney and it naa guh dun.

“And now dem a put up pon phone, dem a put up ‘bout dem affi run, but dem betta try put up ‘cause dem affi guh run to. A nuh mi alone a guh cry. A nuh di parents dem wey fi dem pickney dead alone a guh cry. Everybody a guh cry,” she warned.

According to residents, the harmonious relationship that the two communities had been enjoying crumbled in July when a series of attacks, reportedly orchestrated by men from Crescent Road, began.

Asked what had triggered those attacks, one resident said: “Is a girl. She tell har man, the don, that we stop har from come ‘round here and ... send a talk say him nuh waa no man from ‘round here come ‘round deh.”

The man said a male resident went to the community and was told to leave, and since then, there have been multiple shootings.

However, the residents claimed that Bowen Road residents were focused on trying to keep the peace.

“So true dem know de man dem naa pree nuh war, and nuff man bury dem gun, dem come attack de man dem,” a resident said.

“De man dem naa push nuh war. De man dem a look progress and dem a look war, and mi nuh like waa a gwaan,” another resident chimed in.

Yesterday, a large contingent of police was observed combing through the community, but the lawmen were met with glares and unpleasant reactions from the residents.

In the meantime, hours after the shooting incident, Pastor Lennox Robinson, along with his flock from the Glad Tidings Church of God of the First Born, gathered in front of Hardware’s bar, singing and praying.

The minister said he and his members were going to do a walk-through in the communities to pray with the residents and offer them support.

“We just want to bear with them and pray that God will seal up the communities so that they do not break out in any further bloodbath,” Robinson said.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com