Members of the St Peter Claver church, along with their priest, Father Steve, mourn the murder of their church brother, Marlon Brown, who was gunned down metres from the church hall during early morning traffic on Waltham Park Road yesterday. (Photo: Michael Gordon)

Members of the St Peter Claver Church at St Joseph Road and other onlookers wept bitterly as they held an impromptu prayer service over the body of 25-year-old Marlon Brown yesterday.

Brown was shot dead as he walked along Waltham Park Road yesterday morning. Another man was also shot and seriously injured in the attack.

As his lifeless body lay on the sidewalk across the road from the church, his fellow church members could not hold back their grief.

They described Brown as a devout Christian, who was the head of the church youth group and who sang on the choir. They could find no reason why he was killed as they said he was not involved in any criminal activity.

"He was a good person, he didn't deserve this," a member of the church told the Observer.

The attack occurred during peak hour traffic and caused gridlock on the busy Waltham Park Road.

Students of the St Peter Claver Primary School were sent home as staff were forced to close school for the day. Early yesterday afternoon, the school compound, which is usually abuzz with children at play, was eerily silent.

The St Andrew South police say a turf war in the St Joseph's Road community has resulted in four persons being murdered since Sunday.

The police say the leadership of a criminal outfit known as the Rat Bat Gang has ambitions of controlling the entire community of St Joseph's Road and adjoining streets. Their efforts to take control of the turf have, however, been thwarted by another gang based in the upper section of St Joseph's Road, police say.

The resistance has been met with a series of attacks, which has blown apart a peace deal brokered by warring factions some months ago.

"Peace with guns in hand makes no sense. This has been a long-standing turf war in that area," a cop at the Hunts Bay Criminal Investigation Branch said yesterday.

Early Sunday morning, Oniel Bryan, also called 'Toughest', was cut down by gunmen along Waltham Park Road. Police say the gunmen chased and shot Bryan a number of times before he fell dead in a yard.

Police say they suspect that Monday's double murder of two Jamaicans who live in Scarborough, Canada, is connected to the ongoing gang war. The two, 39-year-old barber Ainsley Coore also called 'Cat' and Christopher Lyons, 36, were attacked as they alighted from a vehicle with other family members on Omara Road on Monday evening.
Police say both men tried to escape but were chased and shot by the gunmen.

A man known only as 'Nijah' is being sought in connection with the double murder.

Meanwhile a police sergeant attached to Kingston Mayor, Desmond McKenzie's security detail was shot and injured during a robbery attempt in downtown Kingston yesterday.
One of the robbers was also shot during the incident.

Police say the sergeant was in the vicinity of Beeston Street and challenged two gunmen who attempted to relieve a security guard of a bag of cash. The cop challenged the gunmen and a shoot out ensued during which the policeman was shot in the arm and one of the robbers were also hit.
The two were taken to hospital and admitted.

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