By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReporterMEMBERS OF the notorious Joel Andem gang surfaced yesterday in the Kintyre community of Papine, St. Andrew, where police allege that they shot and injured a sub-officer attached to the Papine criminal investigation branch.
"He is in stable condition, he was shot in the left thigh," said Deputy Superintendent Cornwall 'Bigga' Ford, who visited the scene.
DSP Ford, who is now working out of the Flying Squad office in downtown Kingston, said the car in which the men were travelling has been processed by fingerprint experts. Its findings are being analysed.
FIFTH ANDEM CASUALTY
Reports are that Detective Sergeant Reuben Gunter and a colleague were on patrol in the area when they came across the men in a car that was said to be stolen. The officer was hit during the shoot-out that ensued, the police said.
According to police records, Sgt. Gunter is the fifth police officer to be shot by members of Andem's gang since 2001.
In March 2002 the gang allegedly executed District Constable James Thomas, near his home in Kintyre.
In December 2001, three policemen were injured during a reported shoot-out with members of the gang in Skyline, St. Andrew. A gang member, known as 'Eddie', was killed in that confrontation.
LINKED TO NUMEROUS MURDERS
Andem's gang has also been linked to the murders of: gas station operator, Sylvia Edwards, whose body was recovered from a shallow grave, in the bushes of Bedward Pastures, St. Andrew on July 31, 2000 after she was abducted; Garfield Mothersill, killed January 9, 2002; Andel Dixon who died January 24, 2002; and Maureen Ford, killed on February 9, 2002.
Deputy Commissioner Lucius Thomas says a special group of detectives has been assigned to hunt the Andem gang and other fugitives who are on the police most wanted list. Its members are wanted in connection with more than a dozen murders, shootings, abduction, rape and several cases of extortion.
In yesterday's incident, Det. Sgt. Gunter was shot shortly after 8:00 a.m., during an attempt to apprehend one of the country's most wanted, known only as 'Richie Poo', who is reportedly one of Joel Andem's most trusted lieutenants.
The police said 'Richie Poo' and the two men with him escaped into the community. Better known as the 'Gideon Warriors', the Joel Andem Gang came to prominence in July 2000 after the death of Sylvia Edwards.
In March 2002, another of Andem's lieutenants, Diego Joseph Williams, also known as 'Jacket Man', was killed during a police operation in Land Lease, Papine. Last year April, two more members of the gang, Lanceville Lawrence and Carl James, were sentenced by the court to 30 years to life for the murder of Ian O'Gilvie.
