Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReporterA WAVE of gun violence across the country in the past couple of months has pushed the murder count well past the 800 mark.
According to the police, 830 persons have died violently since January. Among the victims are 102 women and 14 children, a number of the children being killed in the last couple of weeks.
Police records have revealed that 257 were killed as a result of reprisals, domestic issues accounted for 241, gang related 125, 100 were killed in robbery, 25 drug related, 11 were political, seven mobbed, six raped and killed and two cut down during police/criminal confrontation. The motive for 55 are undetermined. Last year Jamaica recorded 1139 murders.
In the meantime, the sporadic shootings continue to drive fear into the hearts of residents of Central Kingston, mainly in Allman Town, "Southside" and "Tel-Aviv." Resi-dents said it is a nightly affair with heavily armed gunmen invading each other's turf.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, head of the Kingston Central Division, Superintendent Carl Wilson, said he is aware of the problem and has since been concentrating on daily snap raids and cordon and search.
"In the nights we are assisted by teams from the Joint Operational Command Centre," said Supt. Wilson.
Sections of South St. Andrew yesterday left another teenager dead and two other men seriously injured.
Reports are that the teenager, who police identified as, Shawn Planter, 18, of a Central Road address in Greenwich Farm, woke up yesterday morning and went in searching of a job. Allegations are that he stopped along Spanish Town Road, in the vicinity of Central Road, to inquire about some road work that was in progress.
Further allegations are that while he was there inquiring about the job, a group of men with whom he had differences, came searching for him. They eventually caught up with him and shot several times at close range. He died on the spot.
Andre Chambers, alias "Floyd", a 17-year-old resident of Cresent Road in the Waltham Park Road area, was shot and injured by gunmen at his home. The police believed he was shot by men who three days ago made an attempt on his mother's life. Reports are that the men kicked down his mother's door, but she escaped unhurt.
The third man who has been identified only as "Pigeon" was among a group of men sitting along St. Joseph Road in the same area, when they were attacked by a group of men. he was shot several times.
One of the two men killed during a shoot out with the police in Grants Pen St. Andrew on Wednesday was yesterday identified as 28-year-old Shawn Turner, alias "Pulus Shawn," of a Grants Pen Drive address.
The men were cut down following a gunfight between the police and a group of gunmen in a section of the community known as "Vietnam." The police said they seized a calibre .380 Davis Industries semi-automatic pistol with two rounds and calibre .38 revolver with four rounds of ammunition.
