- Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
Relatives of Anthony Gregory and Frederick Kirlew console each other at a murder scene on Mandela Highway, St. Catherine, where the men and a third person, Junior Pottinger, were killed by gunmen.
Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
AT LEAST 12 persons were gunned down and seven others shot and injured in separate incidents in the Corporate Area, St. Catherine and Clarendon between Friday afternoon and yesterday morning. The deaths have put the country's murder toll since the start of the year at 669.
Of the number killed, seven were reportedly in relation to the bloody feud among members of the 'One Order Gang' in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, who are now fighting against smaller gangs which have refused to come under their leadership.
The police said the 'One Order Gang' was being led by a deportee known as 'Buba' who wants to control all of Central St. Catherine. Police intelligence suggests the gang is involved in extortion, robberies and murders.
Five of the injured persons were shot by gunmen while at a dance being held on Fitzgerald Avenue, Kingston. Detective Divisional Inspector Paro Campbell said the police had not yet established a motive for the attack.
Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner late yesterday evening, Deputy Commissioner Lucius Thomas and other senior officers were in an emergency meeting at the office of the Commissioner of Police, discussing strategies to deal with the situation.
The latest victims of the Spanish Town feud include two brothers Anthony Gregory, 38, and Frederick Kirlew, 20; and Junior Pottinger, 31, all of an Oxford Road address in Spanish Town, St. Catherine.
SHOOTING AT VENDORS
It's reported that about 10:30 a.m. a car with five men aboard stopped near the Caymanas Crossing on the Mandela Highway, St. Catherine. The men got out of the vehicle and began shooting at vendors who were selling at the stoplight, leading into the Portmore community.
The vendors, mostly men, fled into nearby bushes. The police theorise that the killer(s) might have come for Pottinger, who is also called 'Shortman'.
On Friday, there were two separate double murders in the Spanish Town area. Eric Reid, 30, plumber of King Street and Conroy Mullings, 23, of Wellington Street, were the first victims Friday evening.
Several hours later Ricardo Walters, 25, of Lakes Pen and Leon Palmer, 17, of Railway Premises, along with an unidentified 21-year-old man were shot during a drive-by shooting on Morrison Street. Walters and Palmer were pronounced dead at hospital.
There was a third double murder in less than 24 hours, when Michael Jackson, 33, and an unidentified man were shot and killed on Unity Drive, Waterhouse, St. Catherine.
Reports are that the men were selling coal on a dray cart when they were attacked by gunmen. One of the two horses pulling the cart was also shot in the drama which unfolded before the eyes of scores of residents.
DRIVE-BY SHOOTING
In another killing on Friday night, Donovan Aitchison, 41, was killed in a drive-by shooting on Mandela Terrace. A 16-year-old boy was also injured in that incident.
Roy Smith, a labourer of Tavern Drive, Kingston 6, was killed about 2:00 a.m. yesterday. Residents heard gunshots and later found him suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on Golding Avenue, Elletson Flats.
Courtney Stewart, 32, otherwise called 'Happy' of Sevens Road, May Pen, Clarendon, was shot and killed early yesterday morning when he went to investigate strange sounds coming from a shop he operated at his home.
