Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
WINSTON SILL, Freelance Photographer -
Police gather evidence at John Street in Allman Town following the shooting incident there yesterday.
FIVE MEMBERS of one family, including a three-year-old girl, were rushed to hospital yesterday morning nursing gunshot wounds after a Jamaica Defence Force corporal, in a fit of rage, opened fire on them with a sub-machine gun and a pistol, at their Allman Town, Kingston 4 home.
Those admitted to the Kingston Public Hospital were Kingsley West, 54, who is a postal worker and a member of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) reserves; his son, Evard West, 26, a security guard; his daughter, Jacqueline West-Ramsay, 32, a nurse at the University Hospital of the West Indies; and her husband, Carlton Ramsay, 36, a sales representative. The Ramsays' three-year-old daughter was admitted to the Bustamante Hospital for Children with gunshot wounds to her shoulder.
It is reported that Corporal Michael Willliams, a member of the JDF's Close Protection Section, went to the family's 4 John Street, Allman Town home yesterday shortly after 10:40 a.m. asking to see Lisa West who had recently broken off a two-year relationship with him. Her father, Kingsley, is reported to have told him she was not there while trying to stall his attempts to enter the premises.
SCAMPERED FOR COVER
According to the police, Williams left, then returned, retrieved a sub-machine gun and 9mm pistol from his car and then opened fire on the house where the family was. They were shot as they scampered for cover. The JDF said last night that Williams was in possession of service weapons provided for his duties..
Eyewitnesses told The Gleaner that Kingsley and Carlton Ramsay managed to escape to summon help from the Allman Town police who called for back-up as Corporal Williams still had his guns trained on the house, several minutes after his initial volley of shots. He was eventually subdued inside the premises by policemen from the Kingston Central Division and taken into
custody.
The injured family members were then rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital where they were admitted.
Persons who said they witnessed the shooting told
the Gleaner Lisa's life was spared by a friend who apparently engaged her in a lengthy conversation at a nearby premises, despite her attempts to rush home to get ready for church.
