ST ANN, Jamaica — There was noticeably less activity in the transportation centre in this north coast town on Wednesday, users apparently still uneasy about Tuesday afternoon’s fatal shooting of 51-year-old Patrick ‘Banna’ Smalling.

“Right now the park tense. Not even passengers a come through because is like them hear about the incident and afraid to use the park,” said a vendor who only identified himself as Rasta. His shop is close to the one Smalling operated in the centre.

According to police reports, Smalling was sitting at the entrance of his shop about 5:50 pm on Tuesday afternoon when an armed man walked up and shot him.  He was pronounced dead at the St Ann’s Bay Hospital.

The dead man’s friend of 37 years, Clayton Stone, has been left reeling from the tragedy. According to him, he had been with Smalling at his shop only a few hours before he was killed.

“As mi reach home mi get the phone call say them shoot him and mi rush come back down to the bus park and mi don’t see him. Only thing mi see is the crime scene. I was here until after 10 in the night a try understand what happen because mi just couldn’t believe,” said Stone.

The pain cuts deep and he regrets not spending more time with his friend before leaving the transportation centre on Tuesday.

“Mi a tell you it hot! Mi feel it man. Mi remember when mi a leave yesterday him say to mi, ‘How you a leave so early?’ And me turn to him and say, ‘A mi hours this so mi gone in.’ And him say, ‘Alright, tomorrow’,” Stone lamented. “So when mi get the call say them kill him mi couldn’t believe. Right now mi just a drink some rum and a try to free my mind.”

Smalling is said to be originally from Anchovy in St James but he has been living in Mansfield Ocho Rios for several years.

He was also shot and injured in 2020 while operating a taxi from Ocho Rios into Mansfield. The police believe both incidents may be linked.

However, Clayton cannot fathom why the man he knew as a good person was killed.

“From wi a young little boy we grow up together so you must know that wi close. Mi and him live like brothers. Wi a sell for a while now from round a Ochi Rios Jerk Centre until wi reach into the bus park,” Clayton said.

“Banna don’t give trouble, him a good youth, give jokes and just do his thing,” he added

The other vendor, Rasta, said he is also having a hard time coping with Smalling’s death.

“Mi still cyaan believe them kill Banna. A whole morning mi and him sit down a the shop a drink and talk,” he said.

The police have appealed for anyone with information about the killing to come forward.

Meanwhile, members of the St Ann Municipal Corporation who visited the transportation centre on Wednesday decried the gruesome murder and expressed condolences to Smalling’s relatives.

“It is unfortunate that we have such an incident on one of our premises. We have to start the New Year on a positive note and understand that there are other avenues in which disputes can be settled and I ask that our citizens understand that,” Ian Isaac, Councillor of the Exchange Division in Ocho Rios (JLP) and head of the commercial services at the St Ann municipal cooperation told OBSERVER ONLINE.

Deputy Mayor and Councillor for the St Ann’s Bay Division, Dallas Dickenson (JLP) says the corporation will be taking measures to improve security in the centre.

“We are looking at some of the shortcomings here at the bus park because we believe that on a daily basis people who happen to use the bus park need to be [kept safe]. We are going to ensure, along with the help of the police, that order returns to the bus park. So people can traverse the town in a more peaceful environment,” Dickenson said.

Akera Davis