Fear grips Balmagie Avenue after house burnt in latest attack
Published:Thursday | June 2, 2022 | 12:11 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
The St Andrew South police are keeping a close watch on the Balmagie Avenue community in Olympic Gardens after days of lingering tension that also saw a murder, a spate of shootings, and suspected arson.
Residents say that over the last seven days, they have had to resort to sleeping on the floors of their homes as warring factions trade heavy gunfire.
“This (Tuesday) morning, mi just hear a old man a shout, ‘Fire! Fire! Fire!’. When mi look out, a fire and smoke me see a come from over the house,” a resident told The Gleaner of yesterday’s suspected arson attack.
Residents surmise that a message was being sent to the occupants of 12 Balmagie Avenue to leave the community.
While the house was totally destroyed, with thousands of dollars in furniture and appliances going up in smoke, there were no reports of injury.
The Gleaner understands that no one was at home at the time of the suspected attack.
“Mi feel sorry for the woman that live there. She have a young baby and two other children going to school. All of dem belongings dem burn up. Nothing nuh save. They were making efforts to move out and things were piled up in a room,” one resident said.
The Gleaner was told that a unit from the Jamaica Fire Brigade responded to the blaze minutes after 4 a.m. and the police were also summoned.
PACKING TO MOVE
According to the residents, the latest flare-up in violence began over a week ago.
“From weh day mi a hear some little talk-talk and gunshot did a fire pon di road, but me nuh know what happen because people business mi nuh too investigate,” the fearful elderly resident said.
He added that he was also nervous and has started packing to move away from the area although he has nowhere to go.
A senior police officer told The Gleaner that a killing in the community just days ago followed by reports of shootings culminated in yesterday morning’s attack.
“A man was killed and based on information, the residents want his associate, who lives at the location, to leave. We believe this act is to send a message to the friend of the dead man,” said the senior officer, who requested anonymity.
Yesterday, the area resembled a ghost town with no one on the streets, except for three people sitting in front of their home glancing up and down the road.
Head of the St Andrew South Police Division, Senior Superintendent Kirk Ricketts, said that gangs were at war in the space, adding that the police would be maintaining a strong presence in the area to calm the residents’ fears.
The St Andrew South Police Division, which led the country in murders for two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020, has been experiencing a year-on-year reduction in homicides.
Up to May 27, the division recorded 52 murders, or 24 fewer than the 76 for the corresponding period in 2021.
Other major crimes such as shootings, rape, and robbery have also declined.
More than 600 people have been murdered across the island since the start of the year.