Fear and uncertainty currently grip communities in a section of Waltham Park Road in St Andrew where five men were shot dead moments after the murder of a young man on Monday evening.

The first man killed was identified as 25-year-old David Mardner. The identities of the other victims, except for Robert Henry, were not released up to press time.

The reality of having six people murdered in their midst in less than 24 hours has shaken relatives of the deceased and residents who on Tuesday expressed anxiety about the future of their community which is being plagued by gang violence.

Responding to the multiple killings, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who along with Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang, and Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake, visited the community, issued a stern warning to the killers.

“The persons who committed this act, mark my words, you will be found and you will either meet a judge or meet you maker. Anyone who commits these acts, the police will target you, focus on you, we will bring our investigative capabilities to bear and we will find you and you will face justice,” he said.

He also announced that the Government has increased to $30 million from $25 million, a special pool of funds that will serve to reward people who come forward with information leading to the arrest of perpetrators of mass killings.

The Jamaica Observer was told that Mardner was shot dead about 7:30 pm at his shop at 75 Lane. His mother, Marcia, whose right leg is amputated, was puzzled as to why anyone would want to snuff out the life of her “well-mannered, promising son, who was a budding musical artiste”.

Amid her grief she recounted for the prime minister the chain of events leading to the murder of her son, who had spent one year at GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport before dropping out to pursue a career in music.

According to the mother, she heard when a male voice shouted, “Serve” and her son went to the shop at the front of their yard.

“I heard when the door pull and him come out. When he came out, I heard blow, blow! I said to myself that it sounded like somebody got shot. I went to the window and said, ‘David, David,’ and he didn’t answer. I began to wonder if he was shot because it sounded like gunshot.

“I called my son’s friend and told her to go over the shop and look if she saw him. She said ‘Aunty, him lay down in a pool of blood’,” she said.

“I don’t know what could have caused that. David was born here, and if you walk from the main road to the bottom of the lane I can guarantee you that nobody has anything bad to say about my son. He was a peacemaker, and I am not taking up for him because he is my son,” said the mother who revealed that in May this year her husband was shot dead and her first son was killed last December.

“My husband got five gunshot. He was the security guard at Pembroke Hall Primary School. He spent 17 years at that school and 10 years at Tarrant High School. The police have been investigating his killing but up to now it is a mystery death,” she told the prime minister.

She lamented the current state of her neighbourhood, saying, “The community is going down with crime and violence. It may look like crime and violence is not going on, but things are going on. Things are going on between the top of Waltham and down here, but because I am old, they are not going to tell me about it.”

Meanwhile, an older brother of Henry, who was one of the five men shot dead at a bar on Asia Avenue — which is located less than 300 metres from 75 Lane — in what is believed to have been a reprisal for Mardner’s killing, said none of the victims were involved in any conflict.

He described the multiple killings as senseless.

“My brother was drinking a special and the men just walked up. People said that a man was killed earlier and that it was a reprisal but they can’t just come and see five innocent man and kill dem. They must know who they are in war with. None of the men who were killed are involved in war. My brother did labourer work and he is the father of one daughter,” the man told the Observer.

Holness offered his sympathy and condolence to the relatives of the deceased. He said the incident was clearly gang-related and sought to give assurance that the Government is working hard to deal with gangs.

“For too long, communities like these have offered safe haven for gangs. They don’t see them as a problem, they see them almost like a social organisation, a club or a friends group. They are not realising that amongst them are persons who are armed and persons whose only purpose is to use the safe haven of the community and the friendship bond they have formed to extort, do lottery scamming, sell drugs, and other illegal activities,” he said.

“They take cover here and take cover elsewhere and they have protection. More than that, they have access to an army of young men who they can influence to commit illegal acts. The implications of this are that when the gangs have conflict over simple things like the proceeds of crime, they resolve these conflicts through the use of violence. I don’t know the circumstances behind the death of David; it is still being investigated. There are several theories, but one thing we are certain of is that it is a gang-related activity and it has resulted in multiple deaths. We are monitoring it closely. We will get all those affected. Those responsible will be brought to justice,” Holness said.

He said he has given a policy directive that cases of multiple victim violence must be dealt with specially.

“We are going to make the necessary change in laws to deal with them. We consider them acts of terror and we are examining the law to see what other penalties and what other deterrents can be placed in law to prevent criminals and criminal-minded people in gangs from committing these kinds of acts. In the meantime, from an operational perspective, the police can mobilise resources to deal with the problem.

Commissioner Blake said that the Jamaica Constabulary Force will be very strident in its response to what occurred on Monday.

“I am told that the victims are non-combatants. These were innocent citizens playing a game of dominoes which everyone should be able to do,” he said.