WESTERN BUREAU:
IN A stand-off lasting more than eight hours, three gunmen were shot and killed, three policemen shot and injured, and a large cache of ammunition was seized in the volatile Canterbury community in Montego Bay yesterday.
The heavy sounds of gunshots rang across nearby communities, as the police attempted to disarm gunmen toting powerful AK-47s in the inner-city community.
The injured policemen, who have all been admitted to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, have been identified as Corporal Franklyn Hunter, who was shot in his left arm; Constable Wilbert Hunter, who was shot in the buttocks; and Constable Lori Nelson, who was shot in the chest.
RIGHT-HAND MAN FOR THE LOCAL 'DON'
The dead were not all identified, but The Gleaner was advised that a man called 'Che' who was the right-hand man for the local 'don', is among the three.
The police, who were among a special team deployed from Kingston Monday to deal with escalating crime in troubled parishes, went into the Canterbury area early Tuesday, where according to the lawmen, they came under attack.
"We tried to enter the area at about 5:30 a.m. and were greeted by gunfire from men carrying AK-47 assault rifles," said Senior Superintendent Donald Pusey, who was leading what was described as a 'normal' police operation.
"The three policemen, who were shot, were pinned down in the area for quite a while as we had to retreat and regroup."
Television cameras captured police and journalists holed up in a bar as gunshots rang out around them. Chaos reigned in the area, forcing the closure of surrounding schools and businesses, some on the recommendation of the police.
As the gun battle raged, Police Commissioner Francis Forbes, who was holding a previously planned press conference on pending changes in the Force, said confidently that his men on the ground were well equipped to deal with the situation, especially with the added support from the Jamaica Defence Force and nearby police division.
The Commissioner told journalists in Kingston that had it not been for the intelligence given by the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), there would have been a lot more casualties on the police side.
REPORTERS FORCED
TO TAKE COVER
When the Gleaner team arrived on the scene of the gun battle shortly after 9:00 a.m., reporters were forced to take cover alongside the police as heavy gunfire rocked the King Street entrance to Canterbury.
The police efforts to enter the community were thwarted on several occasions.
"It is terrible down here, it is terrible, we need assistance as some policemen are trapped in the community," SSP Pusey was heard shouting into his mobile phone.
"We need reinforcement, send us anything you have."
A JDF helicopter arrived on the scene and attempted to fly at low altitude over the community, but the pilot was forced to abort when the shooters turned their guns on the hovering craft.
Montego Bay's Mayor, Noel Donaldson, who came on the scene at about 10:15 a.m., and Member of Parliament Horace Chang, both expressed alarm at the level of resistance the gunmen were putting up.
"There is hardly any word to describe what is happening here today," said Mayor Donaldson. "The fact that the police are coming under fire as we speak and the fact that they indicating to me that the weaponry they are coming up against far outweighs what they have really speaks to a dangerous situation."
Dr. Chang was more philosophical, claiming that what was unfolding was not too much of a surprise to him giving the fact that guns were now a common feature in most inner-city communities.
He said he hoped the incident would trigger something to get everyone to take the problems of the inner cities in Montego Bay more seriously.
"The character of the incident is new to Montego Bay but it is not totally surprising to me although I am somewhat taken aback that it has happened at this time," said. Dr. Chang. "Given the type of weaponry that exists in some inner-city communities, it was only a matter of time before something like this would happen."
PROLONGED LULL
When the head of the Mobile Reserve, ACP Arthur 'Stitch' Martin arrived on the scene shortly after 11:30 a.m., ahead of a strong detachment of police and soldiers, there was a prolonged lull as the lawmen pulled back to re-organise for a major assault on two houses, which the police had identified by then as vantage points being used by the gunmen.
Shortly after 3:00 p.m., the lawmen made another attempt to enter the community and were again met with strong resistance. However, this time they managed to break through with teams of police attacking from various directions under close cover from two JDF helicopters.
The shooting intensified at that time as the gunmen abandoned their position and fled in different directions.
20 MEN, ONE WOMAN DETAINED
When the shooting again subsided, three men were found with fatal wounds. The police also took 20 men and one woman into custody. No charges had been laid against any of the detainees up to late last night.
SSP Pusey told The Gleaner that the police would be conducting a house-to-house searches in a bid to recover the weapons that were used against them.
The shootings caused some amount of dislocation in the city as schools such as Cornwall College and Albion Junior High cut short classes and sent home their students while a number of business places pulled down their shutters as the stand-off intensified.
