Unmanned guard rails left behind from a curfew imposed almost a month ago were no deterrent for heavily armed killers who drove on to West Avenue in Dunkirk, east Kingston, in the daytime yesterday, leaving death in their wake.
Up to press time, the deceased men were only identified by their aliases: 'Yellow Man' and his nephew 'Benja', both of West Avenue addresses.
Benja was reportedly assisting his mother, Yellow Man’s sister, to load personal belongings unto a moving truck when a car drove up, and men alighted from the vehicle with guns blazing.
The men tried to outrun their attackers but were not fast enough to escape their assailants.
“Dem shot one in the front yard, go over him and shoot him up and run down the next one to the back side of the house … . Dem shoot him up and when dem passing back the first one that was killed, dem shoot him up some more,” an alleged eyewitness told The Gleaner.
He described the attack as a mob invasion.
The residents said a barrage of gunfire exploded in the area.
Personnel at nearby Bellevue Hospital told The Gleaner that the gunfire, which echoed across the mental health facility, was frightening.
Several persons who converged on the scene along West Avenue, including Yellow Man’s eldest sister, questioned how the now deceased managed to leave himself exposed on a day like November 8.
Several persons in earshot heard as Yellow Man’s eldest sibling said the day was significant as he was one of several persons who was shot at the same location exactly a year ago.
She also said November 8 was their deceased mother, Ms Essy’s, birthday and she should have been at her graveside instead of at a crime scene with her nephew and brother.
“Everybody a go weh lef me … . Today a mama birthday… . Out of the seven brothers, a one me have lef, enuh … and da one deh a go a Bellevue,” she said, while being comforted by a family friend.
The premises where the deadly shooting occurred is known as Big Yard.
A resident of 43 years said it was the first time she had ever experienced such a tragedy at their home.
"This never happen yet. Mi worried for my daughter because she nuh use to this … . She hear gunfire around but not in her immediate presence,” the woman said, in between asking the investigating officers to go check on her child.
She, too, was dumbstruck as to why a day like November 8 did not stand out enough to the now deceased for him to be more vigilant.
“A today Ms Essy birthday. Is a day like this, inna di night when dem did shoot up the gate, when Daniel get shot, Champs get shot, Yellow Man get shot. November 8th a one year now and dem nuh tek sleep and mark death,” the resident said.
The area, popularly known as Dunkirk, correctly named McIntyre Villa, has been tense for months.
Some residents told The Gleaner that they were expecting some sort of attack because of the tension in the space.
They were closely monitoring the back entrance and took steps to secure fence lines and borders.
To their surprise, the attackers took the front roadway to carry out destruction, leaving one family mourning the loss of two of its members.
On October 16, National Heroes Day, three men were executed on neighbouring Bray Street in the community.
It has not yet been determined whether the incidents are related.
The victims were identified as Mario Headley, Rick Smith, and another identified only as Patrick.
The security forces said the triple murder was gang related and a reprisal for the murder of a man known as ‘Popeye’, who was killed on October 13.
The police had imposed a 48-hour curfew in the space.
The guard rails were still visible yesterday at the entrance to the roadways along Windward Road.
The East Kingston Police Division, as at October 28, had recorded 60 murders, one more than the corresponding period in 2022.
The Dunkirk residents who, year on year, experience bloodshed, which reportedly stifles the community, have been requesting a zone of special operations in the area since 2021.