By Damion Mitchell, Staff Reporter
Residents in August Town, St. Andrew, yesterday protest against what they claimed was the indiscriminate shooting of two community members by Jamaica Defence Force soldiers on Sunday night.
- RUDOLPH BROWN/Chief Photographer
A NINE-MEMBER team from the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) headed by Granville Gause, Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police, has commenced investigations into Sunday night's killing of two August Town residents, allegedly by members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).
"I am going to be on the ground to ensure that things go smoothly," ACP Gause told members of the community
yesterday.
COMMUNITY LEADER KILLED
Numerous residents of August Town in eastern St. Andrew were on the streets venting their anger at the soldiers, who they said indiscriminately shot and killed Sandra Sewell, a noted community leader from Bottom Road in August Town, and Gayon Alcott, a 20-year-old footballer from Goldsmith Villa.
In the meantime, Jamaicans for Justice, the human rights lobby group, has condemned the killings. It also said with the current state of public emergency suspending the fundamental rights of persons, it was a 'distinct possibility' that members of the security forces could abuse their powers.
Yesterday, when The Gleaner visited the Jungle 12 area of August Town, where the shooting occurred, placard-bearing residents, overwhelmed by the loss of two of their neighbours, were enraged at the shootings.
Sewell and Alcott were at a party in Jungle 12 at about 9:15 p.m. when a police officer and a team of soldiers visited the area. According to one man, who claimed to be an eyewitness, the soldiers demanded that Alcott, who was smoking ganja, be searched.
SHOT SEVERAL TIMES
He said as Alcott approached the soldiers, he was shot in the stomach and despite Alcott's run to avoid being hit a second time, he was shot several times again.
Other witnesses said it was at this point that Sewell, who was talking on a cellular phone, was also shot, before the soldiers began firing indiscriminately, causing persons who were at the party to scramble for cover.
The bullets damaged several buildings and properties.
The Constabulary Communication Network, in a release yesterday, said the accounts given by the security forces and the community members were conflicting, but it did not provide the reports.
Investigations are under way with regards to the shooting, as well as to ascertain the origins of a Mac-11 gun that was allegedly seized at the scene.
