Chaos at St George’s
THE sounds of gunshots at the neighbouring Emmett Park sporting ground yesterday caused chaos among frightened students and teachers at St George’s College in Kingston, and forced the school to end classes early.
One man was shot and injured in the incident that occurred
shortly after 9:00 while the school was in session.
No student or teacher was injured in the shooting, but Jamaica Urban Transit Company buses were chartered to transport some of the students from the school’s campus on North Street to the Holy Cross Church on Half-Way-Tree Road, where they were picked up by parents and guardians.
According to the school’s principal, Margaret Campbell, the incident occurred when a group of men went to the school in search of work to reconstruct a rear wall, which had collapsed during the passage of Hurricane Dean in August.
“The men came in search of jobs to repair the wall and, according to what was told to me, two of the men got into some altercation and a gun was used to shoot one of them,” Campbell told the Observer.
“We heard that the men were from neighbouring communities and because of that we feared that there might be some reprisals, so we decided to close the school for the day,” said Campbell.
Security remained tight following the shooting as a number of police and security guards took up positions at both entrances to the school.
One female parent, who was evidently shaken up by the incident, said she was at the school dropping off some documents for her son when she heard a barrage of gunshots. Men, she said, were seen running through the school with a group of students in tow.
“I was in the classroom talking to the teacher when another teacher ran in and told everyone to get flat, the woman said. “After that I heard a barrage of gunshots and I looked out and saw some of the men running away,”
she added.
The frightened parents had to be comforted by teachers after the incident.
The main entrance to the school was jammed with both pedestrian and vehicular traffic following the shooting as worried parents arrived to get to their children.
By early afternoon the school issued a statement which advised parents to pick up their children at the Holy Cross Church and confirmed that no student or staff was present at the scene where the shooting took place. Classes are expected to resume today.