MONTPELIER, St James – Rattled by the string of deaths in St James since last Friday, state minister in the Office of the Prime Minister (West) Homer Davis has expressed alarm at what he sees as a thirst for revenge that will only lead to more bloodshed.

“As a people we have to understand that an eye-for-an eye and the whole nation will go blind. We should find a better way to resolve our differences,” he urged.

Davis, who is also the Member of Parliament for St James Southern, was speaking to teachers and students of Anchovy High on Monday. In what has now become an all too familiar routine, it is the latest school where morning devotion was dedicated to soothing students who have lost a peer to violence. Counsellors comforted teens and encouraged them to share their feelings about Friday evening’s murder of 14-year-old Randeno “Deno” James.

“Our young children are being killed mercilessly on a daily basis. Sometimes [people] don’t even know why they have been murdered,” Davis lamented.

Young James was shot and killed after playing a game of football in what he thought was a safe space, his Montpelier community. He lived on Marl Road. His murder was one of at least five across St James between Friday and Sunday.

The parish has been under a state of public emergency since November 8 but the enhanced security measure was not enough to prevent the 6:28 pm attack that took James’s life and left a woman hospitalised.

The police reported that after playing football James and his peers tried to shelter from heavy rain in a nearby bar. A motorcycle drove up, two men got out and began shooting at James and others nearby.

“The students are really sad, teachers are sad, the entire school community is mourning the loss of Randeno James, a student of grade eight, who was tragically taken from us on the weekend,” said Principal Lavern Stewart at the school on Monday.

The usual measures were put in place: exams postponed, grief counselling, prayers, and efforts to explain the void left by unfulfilled potential.

“He was a quiet student; he’s a good footballer, so he was actively engaged in our football programme although he wasn’t on the team for this year, but he was a part of the general team, very good player,” Stewart revealed.

A day after James’s death came a double murder in the Green Pond section of the parish. Brothers, 20-year-old housekeeper Odane “Oh-Oh” Thompson and 18-year-old chef Jevaughn “Javi”, were shot and killed at their house in Farm View, Green Pond. Residents reported hearing explosions about 2:00 am.

The police were summoned and, when they arrived, both men were found suffering from gunshot wounds. They were taken to hospital where they were later pronounced dead.

There were two more murders on Sunday. Twenty-three-year-old businessman Brandon Thompson, from Duncans in Trelawny, was shot and killed on Orange Street in Montego Bay.

A report from the police said he was driving along the road about 1:50 pm when his vehicle developed mechanical issues. He got into another vehicle and headed to a nearby service station but while on his way a man got out of a Toyota Fielder and began shooting at the vehicle. Thompson was hit in the head. The other man who was in the vehicle escaped unhurt. The police were summoned and Thompson taken to hospital where he died.

In the second incident on Sunday, 51-year-old Ian Bailey, a farmer from Bickersteth in the parish, was shot and killed in the Richmond Hill area of his community.

According to the police, residents heard loud explosions about 5:40 pm and summoned them. On their arrival, Bailey’s body was seen slumped over the driver seat of a Toyota Corolla that was in a gully. There were gunshot wounds to his upper body. He was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

There were reports that another man was killed in Bickersteth on Sunday in another incident, but details were not available up to press time. In addition, there were also unconfirmed reports that another 14-year-old student who attends a high school in Trelawny was shot and injured during the incidents in Bickersteth. It is unclear if the incidents in the community are related but the police say they are following strong leads. They are hoping to make breakthroughs in all the recent murders soon.