War downtown - Gunmen, security forces clash in West Kingston

- Norman Grindley
Ruth Ann Grant, left, and Gary Ashley, arrive at the Kingston Public Hospital suffering from gunshot wounds received during yesterday's violence in West Kingston.

Fear, panic and widespread chaos gripped vast sections of downtown Kingston yesterday following violent clashes between the security forces and gunmen, which left several dead, including a policeman and a soldier, and many injured.

The series of confrontations, which continued for hours, was described as being among the worst ever in the violence-torn area.

It reportedly started around 4 a.m. and later forced downtown Kingston business owners to pull down store shutters and sent vendors and shoppers fleeing from the area.

The dead officers were identified as Corporal Mark Henry, of the police's Special Anti-Crime Task Force; and Kevin Lawrence, a lance corporal in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF). According to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), Cpl. Henry was shot in the abdomen at about 7:55 a.m. while patrolling Tivoli Courts. Lance Cpl. Lawrence was shot at 9:20 a.m.

At least one other soldier and three police officers were also shot and injured, the CCN confirmed. By late yesterday afternoon the CCN reported that two civilians had been shot dead and 21 shot and injured. Their identities had not been determined up to press time.

However, a press release from the People's National Party (PNP) later in the day indicated that five civilians had been killed.

The police also reported that several service vehicles were damaged when gunmen bombed and shot up the Denham Town police station and the Coronation Market command post.

By late morning yesterday, busy shopping zones, including King Street and Coronation Market, were almost deserted. Some store operators told The Sunday Gleaner they had been warned by both gunmen and the security forces to leave. Coronation Market vendors shifted their operations to other areas, including Three Miles in southwest St. Andrew.

"We are pulling out," said market vendor Judy Harrison at 11:15 a.m. "No business. Pure gunshots from morning. People jus' a dead everywhere."

A senior police officer told The Sunday Gleaner that more than 200 members of the security forces were rushed to the area, but that did not stop heavy gunfire from continuing into the afternoon. The shootings were reportedly concentrated in the areas of North Street, near the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), Tivoli, Hannah Town and Denham Town, including Spanish Town Road, Darling Street and Drummond Street.

The police reported that the latest flare-up began when gunmen opened fire on a patrol near Tivoli early yesterday morning while the officers were conducting a cordon and search operation in West Kingston. But residents of Tivoli claim they were fired on by the security forces.

Opposition Leader Edward Seaga demanded to know who gave the security forces orders to go to Tivoli. He was also highly critical of the police.

"If this is the 48 (hours) solution that (Police) Commission-er (Francis) Forbes has put forward, then I have lost all confidence in him as leader of the Jamaica Constabulary Force," he told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.

Minister of National Security and Justice, K.D. Knight, could not be contacted for comment yesterday. A telephone message left at his home was not returned up to press time. However, in the PNP's statement, the party condemned the killing and wounding of members of the security forces and civilians. Party General-Secre-tary Maxine Henry-Wilson said "the security forces had been deployed to the area to bring an end to the violence and gunfire, which have kept the communities in the surrounding areas under virtual siege for the past several weeks".

Yesterday's clashes rattled not only business people and shoppers, but also some members of the security forces and hospital staff. There were reports of the police running out of ammunition and being forced to retreat from certain areas.

In one exchange at 10:50 a.m., an officer was heard screaming over the police radio, as gunfire echoed in the background: "How much more fi dead. Commissioner Forbes get up out of yu bed." The same officer later claimed there were "a lot of (gunmen)" in the area between the Denham Town station and the nearby May Pen Cemetery.

Mr. Forbes could not be contacted by The Sunday Gleaner up to press time. Telephone messages left at his office late yesterday were not returned. But his reported claim on Thursday, of bringing calm to the troubled West Kingston communities in 48 hours and "guarantee" the safety of area residents, seemed to have backfired yesterday.

In a television interview yesterday afternoon, Mr. Forbes said all the police's resources had "been diverted in and around Tivoli Gardens." He admitted that his 48-hour plan had been somewhat nullified. He also admitted that the situation was very serious.

"This is no dream or joke," he told the television interviewer.

At 11 a.m. yesterday a senior police officer stationed at the KPH was heard warning people not to venture on to North Street.

"Going out there is almost suicide," he said. "There seems to be continuous gunfire."

Another senior officer mumbled on arrival at the KPH: "This is like the Vietnam War" (a bloody campaign fought decades ago between the United States and the communist faction of Vietnam).

Meanwhile, the KPH staff was also gripped with fear as they treated the steady stream of injured. At 10:40 a.m., a woman was brought in with a bullet wound to her foot. She claimed she was on her way to the market when she was shot near Bond and Beeston streets. Ten minutes later, another man ran onto the hospital's compound with a gunshot wound to his elbow. He said he was shot while crossing North Street. The two said they were not sure who shot them.

KPH's Chief Executive Offi-cer Errol Beckford said: "The staff are frightened, they are terrified. They just don't know what to do. We are appealing to the authorities, to the nation, to do something."

A senior staffer, who claimed at 9:30 a.m. that "almost a dozen" people with gunshot wounds had come to the hospital, added later: "It's one of the worst days. Everyone is anxious. You don't know if you can go home or reach here."

By late morning reporters observed bodies laying in the Spanish Town Road area of Coronation Market as Jamaica Defence Force armoured vehicles and helicopters patrolled the area and other members of the security forces waited behind trucks and walls.

By mid-afternoon the police reported that the violence had spread to other areas, including Rose Town and lower Maxfield Avenue.

When asked if the situation was out of control, Senior Superintendent Granville L. Gause, who is in charge of Area Four, replied: "It is not a matter that the security forces can't handle it, but we need more time."

Violence started in small pockets of the West Kingston constituency a few weeks ago, involving rival gangs. It later spread and took on a political spin as factions in the Jamaica Labour Party stronghold in Rose Town, Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town were reported to be fighting with People's National Party factions in Hannah Town, Arnett Gardens, Whitfield Town and Wilton Gardens (Rema).

The fighting forced the closure of the May Pen Cemetery and several funerals scheduled since Thursday have had to be cancelled.

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