DEADLY IRONY

The screams of mothers desperately searching for their children echoed through Pleasant Heights in Rockfort on Monday night after five men were shot dead at a football competition/peace get-together in the east Kingston community.

Around noon on Tuesday, another bout of screams erupted on Rusden Road. This time, residents said, they came from a youngster named Jordan Green, who they alleged police peppered with bullets inside his home before planting an illegal firearm on his person.

The police identified the deceased in the first incident as Ortavia ‘Mendez’ Austin, 51; his son, Okero ‘Kero’ Austin, 29; Odane Josephs, otherwise called ‘Bones’; Rosrick ‘Teniel’ Thomas; and another man who late yesterday afternoon was still unidentified. Two persons were also injured in that attack.

Superintendent Tomilee Chambers, commanding officer for the Kingston Eastern division, identified Green among the suspects in the Monday’s shooting and said he was killed in a police operation which saw the seizure of an illegal weapon. She said a curfew has been imposed in the area to curtail any reprisals.

“What is happening here is not something that we are accustomed to in the Kingston Eastern division and we are not going to sit back, relax and allow any more of this to take place,” she said.

MINISTERS’ VISIT

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, and East Kingston and Port Royal Member of Parliament Phillip Paulwell visited the community in the aftermath and expressed condolences to the families of the slain men.

“A challenge we have in these communities is that there are persons who claim they lead the community, and they ascribe to themselves the title ‘don’ . ... These persons enlist young men and try to get them to carry out their illegal activities,” said Holness, noting that, in many communities, these persons are welcomed by residents.

“But more and more Jamaicans are realising that these men who claim to protect the communities are nothing but criminals, lowlives, people whose only intent is to undermine your security. And, if they are allowed to do so, they will ultimately claim your life. They are of no value to the community,” he said. “There must be no succour, no favours, no sympathy for these individuals. They are criminals and they must be seen in that way.”

Paulwell commended law-abiding residents, the police and other well-thinking citizens for their efforts in minimising the impact of gangsters in recent months. He said that, last Thursday, he was asked to assist with gifts for the winning football teams.

“It had been a while since the community had come together in this way and it’s amazing that, in this little space, there are turfs on almost every corner. We have been trying to break that down so people, especially the elderly and children, can move freely,” he said. “So it is really quite shocking, very disturbing, that this has occurred. We have called upon the citizens to come forward and to provide information to the police.”

Residents said the dead were players and supporters of a football competition which ended to make way for a spelling competition for children in the community. They were pounced upon by gunmen travelling on foot, who opened fire, sending everyone scampering.

Residents believed the senior Mendez, who had only recently returned from overseas and who was actively working on unifying the community, and his son were the main targets of the attack. They said that the gunmen made sure they were dead by shooting them in the head as they lay helplessly on the ground.

When the shooting ended, the wails were deafening, as residents not only bemoaned the deceased victims, but screamed the names of their children, who fled for cover as the explosions erupted. No children were injured, the residents said.

STREETS DESERTED

Yesterday, however, the streets remained deserted as a few brave residents outlined the trauma the community – especially the children – endured the night before.

“It was just pure screaming afterward. Everybody just a run, and, when the shooting finished, the people dem a scream out dem pickney name, because dem can’t find them and a pure panic,” recalled one shop operator. “The baby dem fully traumatised. None of them go to school today; everybody stay inside.”

She said there had been a lull of gang violence for almost two years before Monday night’s incident.

“All of the youths normally play football on Sunday, so they put together a little football competition, and people from different parts of the area come out,” she recalled sombrely. “The football competition just finished. A little girl won the Spelling Bee and they were going to do the bun-eating competition. As soon as that was to start, that’s when the gunshots started.”

Yesterday, bloodstains marked the spots where the five men were slain. Abandoned slippers and other personal items lay scattered and shell casings littered the scene.

Residents who spoke to the media did so in hushed tones. For them, this was a return to dark days for a community that has seen violence erupt on many occasions in the past.

It was a different scene on Rusden Road, however, as residents rebuked the police openly at the top of their lungs for killing Green. According to them, Green’s cries for the officers to spare his life echoed through the community before they ended in a hail of explosions.

The residents said that, shortly afterward, the police reversed a pick-up into the yard and placed Green’s body in it before speeding away. A trail of blood stained the path that the vehicle took while leaving.

“Everybody on di road hear di youth beg fi him life. Di youth a bawl out loud and a beg dem don’t kill him. Everybody hear and a call out murder, and we just hear when dem just start fire and dat was it,” said one fuming onlooker, as a different set of policemen stood guard behind yellow tapes.

“Dem kill the youth in cold blood. Trust me,” continued the onlooker, as rowdy females, including Green’s relatives, lambasted the police officers. “Is upliftment I am looking for, because Rockfort has gone to the dogs.”

Meanwhile, the police yesterday afternoon confirmed that two men were also shot and injured at the intersection of Orange and North streets in downtown Kingston. Cops could not provide details other than that both men were killed about midday.

Late in the afternoon, videos of the dead men were being circulated on social media. One, attired in a dress pants and long-sleeved shirt, was lying face down along the roadway, while the other, who wore a jeans shorts and a blue sweater, was sprawled on his back.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com