Clark's Town residents baffled by killings
published: Thursday | February 17, 2005

By Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

RESIDENTS OF Clark's Town in Trelawny are still in a state of confusion as they struggle to come to grips with the shocking reality overtaking their community ­ five gruesome murders in the past three weeks.

"We are not used to people being killed in this area," said an elderly resident following a deadly drive-by shooting in the community on Saturday night. "Can you imagine pointing a gun at an 86-year-old man and shooting him?"

SHOOTING INCIDENT

In the Saturday night's incident, a group of gunmen, travelling in a white Toyota Corolla motor car, invaded a grocery shop and began firing shots with impunity at shoppers. When the shooting ended, two men ­ 66-year-old Karl East and a man known only as 'Bad Rasta' ­ laid dead while six other persons were left nursing bullet wounds.

This latest incident came sharply on the heels of last Wednesday night's shooting in which a man, identified only as 'Round Head', was shot dead by an unknown assailant, who pointed a gun through an open window and sprayed him with bullets.

"We now have a strong police presence on the ground in the area," Superintendent Cecil Fletcher, the commanding officer for the Trelawny police, told Western Focus in an interview earlier this week. "We are now gathering intelligence but we cannot disclose anything at this time."

However, even as the police are seeking answers, the residents are adamant that they want to see an end to the killings, which they have deemed senseless. Except for the first incident, where a man was killed in a domestic dispute, the residents are declaring ignorance as to a possible motive for the other killings.

Clark's Town, best known for the world famous Trelawny Rum produced at the Long Pond Estate, is the hometown of Olympic champion Veronica Campbell, and was considered one of the most peaceful towns in Trelawny prior to the recent killings.

Within recent months, gun violence has been taking roots in several sections of Trelawny, especially in the Race Course and Compound areas of the parish capital, Falmouth.