Violence haunts Ackee Walk as gunmen shoot two
Published:Monday | November 8, 2021 | 12:09 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
On September 24, Winston Findlay proudly aided his ailing wife, Carolyn, outside of the Pembroke Hall Community Centre after she was inoculated with her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Back then, Mr Findlay told The Gleaner that he would wait until his sickly wife got her second dose and recover well before he took the jab.
“Mi haffi be strong fi her. A mi one,” he said with a smile before leaving with his wife.
Sometime after 4 p.m. on Saturday, Winston was outside his gate at Ackee Walk, off Molynes Road, St Andrew, when armed men pulled up and opened fire, leaving him and another man, Jerome Powell, riddled with bullets.
His wife told The Gleaner on Sunday that while he lay on the ground, they both looked on each other and started to cry, because it felt as if he would no longer be able to fulfil his goal of being the stronger of the two.
During a visit to their home, Carolyn disclosed that Winston has been admitted to hospital and is recuperating.
“I hear he got one [shot] through his mouth, one on his leg, and one on his shoulder. Last night, mi cry whole night ... but God is on his side,” Mrs Findlay said.
They have both been married for 13 years.
During a tour of the community on Sunday, most residents were tight-lipped about the gun attack and closed their gates with padlocks.
Old refrigerators and freezers were also used as barricades on streets in a bid to prevent another shooting from outsiders.
Powell was attacked at a Cash Pot outlet at the front of the community. He succumbed to gunshot injuries.
The attackers also reportedly fired into the air and uttered expletives against the residents of Ackee Walk.
The Cash Pot enterprise, which was normally abuzz with activity, was closed on Sunday.
Gun violence is endemic to Ackee Walk, which has for years been involved in gang feuds with other communities.
On February 4, 2020, eight residents were shot, three fatally, in a drive-by attack at the same spot.
Back then, a car blocked the entrance at 142 Molynes Road while another drove through the narrow community street with gunmen perched on the vehicle’s windows.
The attackers fired dozens of rounds, which left 33-year-old Omar ‘Trace’ Morris, 45-year-old bus driver Evroy ‘Buzzer’ Hibbert, and 18-year-old Adonis Hibbert, all of Kingston 19 addresses, dead.