Fear grips Gregory Park after deadly shooting

Residents of Main Street in Gregory Park, Portmore, say they are living in terror after a brazen daylight shooting on Sunday afternoon which left two men dead and another hospitalised.

The men, Kemar Williams, also known as Ghetto Bear, and Odaine Beal, were reportedly enjoying drinks at a bar on Main Street at about 2:45 p.m. on Sunday when a grey motor car pulled up. Two armed men exited the vehicle and opened fire on the group. Both men were pronounced dead at the Spanish Town Hospital, while a third man remains in serious but stable condition.

Sources from the community say the incident is a possible reprisal for a double murder at a nearby bar in November 2023, and that tension had been building in the area for over two years.

Sunday’s violence is believed to be connected to that attack, in which two people were killed and one was injured. Reckford Maitland, also known as Shaka, of Train Line, Gregory Park, was arrested and charged with the November murders and other firearm-related offences.

The shooting has left the community on edge. A relative of one of the victims told The Gleaner, “We are lucky God is on our side. If it was a little later, all of us would be out here, and as far as I can tell, more people, including family members, would get shot.”

“The community has lost two good men. As far as we know, they were at the wrong place at the wrong time,” the relative added.

Another family member described the scene as terrifying. “Mi and mi daughters and grandson stayed up all night and couldn’t sleep because we were so afraid. I never come out of the house until daylight the next morning,” they said, emphasising the fear that has gripped the neighbourhood.

Councillor for the Portmore Pines Division, Claude Hamilton, expressed concern at the escalating violence. “Persons in nearby communities of Hamilton Gardens, Christian Pen, and Train Line told me they heard the shots and thought it was a war zone,” Hamilton told The Gleaner.

He said the community is in mourning, as the deceased were well known and had no apparent issues with anyone.

Hamilton acknowledged the growing danger in the area, saying, “What I will say is that persons are out for reprisal, persons are out to make a statement, and we can only hope that the police will use all of their intelligence and resources to bring this matter to a speedy end.”

The Major Investigations Division (MID) invited the public’s assistance in solving this latest crime.