Residents blame feud between PNP supporters for clashes in WC St Andrew
The continued violence in several tough communities in West Central St Andrew has been blamed on an internal feud between supporters of the People’s National Party (PNP).
Residents said armed young men have been fighting for turf in the affected communities, driving fear in the hearts of several people in the community.
“This is not a JLP versus PNP war. This is a thing that is going on between gangs based in the PNP area. Them a fire pure shot every day,” one resident, who asked not to be identified, told the Observer on Tuesday.
The police have confirmed that they have received reports of gunfire in sections of the constituency, but said they were keeping a watch on the Rosalie Avenue, Henderson Avenue, Hill Avenue, Mall Road, Lower Mall Road and Yacca Avenue areas.
The community falls within the volatile St Andrew South Police Division and commanding officer, Superintendent Newton Amos, said the police have been trying hard to nab the criminals who have been wreaking havoc in the community.
“We are having some problems down there and we have been addressing the situation with regular foot and mobile patrols,” Amos said. “We won’t say if it is because of politics as we have no empirical evidence, but we have heard rumblings,” said Amos.
The flare up of violence in the community started in March this year when gunmen invaded Andrew Robinson’s home at Yacca Avenue and shot him dead.
Weeks later gunmen ambushed and killed Cavan Blackwood as he rode his bike on Henderson Avenue. The police said they suspected the killers were from nearby Flinch Crescent, a community said to be aligned to the PNP.
Since then, there has been tension in sections of the community, which lies between upper Waltham Park Road and Olympic Way in St Andrew.
On Tuesday morning several residents had to scamper for cover as gunmen exchanged bullets along Mall Road.
“Them used to hide the gun them but now they are walking with them in the open,” one resident said. “If the police don’t keep up the pressure somebody going dead.”
In the meantime, the South St Andrew police have intensified their manhunt for two men suspected of murdering 18-year-old bus conductor Craig Gregory, who was shot dead a few metres from the Olympic Gardens Police Station last Friday.
Gregory was killed after he attempted to stop a fight between schoolgirls on the number 82 minibus on which he worked. The schoolgirls were fighting over a man, the police said.
One of the girls reportedly left the bus and returned with her aunt and two men who dragged Gregory from the vehicle and shot him several times.
The men, identified only as ‘Oniel’ or ‘Boy Blue’ and ‘Gregory’ are known to frequent sections of a community known as Tower Hill.
The police said ‘Boy Blue’ is wanted for the murder of his aunt in Mona, St Andrew, last year and the rape of a female member of the Tower Hill community some months ago.
The two young women were arrested earlier this week and have both been charged with conspiracy to murder.
– walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com