Bruce Golding, newly-elected Member of Parliament for West Kingston, walks past the Denham Town Police Station yesterday during a protest staged by residents. - NORMAN GRINDLEY /DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
WEST KINGSTON residents yesterday protested outside Denham Town Police Station against Tuesday's shooting of a Milk Lane resident by a joint police/military patrol.
The information arm of the police force, the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), said the incident started after the shooting of a member of the patrol, a special constable from the Harman Barrack. Dead is Devon 'Zion Train' Griffith, 40, of Flat 9, Seaga Boulevard. Two men of Tivoli Gardens addresses received gunshot wounds.
According to the police, at about 3.30 p.m. Tuesday, a patrol came under fire at the intersection of Bond and Charles streets. The patrol returned fire, during which the three men were hit. Assistant Commissioner of Police Gilbert Kameka confirmed that the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) was investigating the incident. He said that soldiers and police in the patrol had their hands swabbed and weapons removed for testing.
GOLDING URGES CALM
In nearby Charles Street and Wellington Lane, residents presented spent shells which they claimed had come from joint police/military team which visited the area three times on Tuesday, and fired several shots. These and other nearby roads were blocked by residents and local schools were closed.
Speaking to his constituents a week after his by-election victory, MP Bruce Golding urged calm, "and if anybody takes it upon themselves to go and fire shots upon Denham Town Police Station this is one Member of Parliament who is not going to support that kind of thing ... Things like this happened when Mr. Seaga was here and people warned me that my time would come.
"What disappoints me is that for the last couple of years the peace in West Kingston has been as good as it has been; the relationship between people and the police has never been as good as it has been." Alluding to the attack as a possible provocation, Mr. Golding warned: "The people in West Kingston must not be foolish, if a trap has been set we must not walk into it." He said he would collect statements from locals and pursue the matter with the police.
