ONE MAN was shot dead and seven others shot and injured during a mid-afternoon drive-by shooting on Wildman Street in downtown Kingston yesterday.
The man said to be about 24 years old was pronounced dead at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), but up to last night the Kingston Central police was unable to identify him and the other victims.
The incident occurred a few hours after a pre-dawn joint-police military operation in the nearby McIntrye Villa area in which the security forces seized two firearms and took two men into custody.
Sources tell The Gleaner that the shooting was apparently in reprisal for the killing of a resident on McWhinney Street in Southside, a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) stronghold in Central Kingston.
Sources said that a man identified only as "Stumpy", a reputed 'don' living in McIntyre Villa (Dunkirk), was shot and injured last Tuesday in Southside. It was reported that men from McIntyre Villa shot and killed another man on Saturday night in the McWhinney Street area in reprisal. McIntyre Villa, Wildman and Beeston Streets are People's National Party (PNP) strongholds.
Victor Cummings, the PNP candidate for Central Kingston, told The Gleaner yesterday that he has asked the police to increase their presence in the affected communities to stave off further tensions as the general election approaches.
"I do not believe it is politically motivated," he said but noted "there are too many guns in the hands of ignorant young boys."
The shooting occurred at about 2:30 p.m. at the corner of Wildman and Beeston Streets. Eyewitnesses said a man and his young child escaped injury, after one of the attackers' gun ran out of bullets.
According to eyewitness reports, the group of eight persons, including a woman, was playing domino and dice games when four men travelling in a white Nissan motor car approached them and immediately began firing shots, sending other persons nearby scampering for cover.
Residents said one of the four attackers came out of the vehicle and sprayed the 24-year-old man with bullets. The police said they were unable to link the two shootings, but they theorised that the vehicle in which the attackers were travelling might have been stolen earlier from a man on King Street, also in downtown Kingston.
The Constabulary Commun-ication Network (CCN) reported that the joint police-military operation was carried out between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. in McIntyre Villa.
The CCN said when the security personnel entered the area, the team was greeted with gunfire from a group of men. The security personnel returned the fire and one of the men ran leaving a Glock 9 semi-automatic pistol with a magazine containing two rounds of ammunition. The police chased and held the man. The other man detained was wanted on a warrant.
Police have withheld the names of the men who are to face identification parades in connection with a number of murders committed in the area.
increase their presence in the affected communities to stave off further tensions as the general election approaches.
"I do not believe it is politically motivated," he said but noted "there are too many guns in the hands of ignorant young boys."
The shooting occurred at about 2:30 p.m. at the corner of Wildman and Beeston Streets. Eyewitnesses said a man and his young child escaped injury, after one of the attackers' gun ran out of bullets.
According to eyewitness reports, the group of eight persons, including a woman, was playing domino and dice games when four men travelling in a white Nissan motor car approached them and immediately began firing shots, sending other persons nearby scampering for cover.
Residents said one of the four attackers came out of the vehicle and sprayed the 24-year-old man with bullets. The police said they were unable to link the two shootings, but they theorised that the vehicle in which the attackers were travelling might have been stolen earlier from a man on King Street, also in downtown Kingston.
The Constabulary Commun-ication Network (CCN) reported that the joint police-military operation was carried out between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. in McIntyre Villa.
The CCN said when the security personnel entered the area, the team was greeted with gunfire from a group of men. The security personnel returned the fire and one of the men ran leaving a Glock 9 semi-automatic pistol with a magazine containing two rounds of ammunition. The police chased and held the man. The other man detained was wanted on a warrant.
Police have withheld the names of the men who are to face identification parades in connection with a number of murders committed in the area.
