Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Donavon 'Bulbie' Bennett, head of the 'Clansman' gang in Spanish Town, and his driver were killed in an alleged shoot-out at this house in Tanaky district, Rock River, Clarendon, yesterday morning during an operation by Kingfish. A well-paved driveway sharply desends to the gateway of his house which boasts a view of the Rio Minho River lazily meandering through the Rock River Valley. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
YESTERDAY'S DEATH of Donovan 'Bulbie' Bennett ended a bloody month for major players in the long-running gang feud in Spanish Town, St. Catherine.
Bennett, who the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), reported was 43-years-old, died during a gun battle with police in the district of Rock River located in the neighbouring parish of Clarendon.
Police say another man, identified only as 'Nathan', was killed along with Bennett in the shootout which took place at 5:00 a.m.
Bennett was leader of the 'Klansman' gang which has waged a bloody war with the 'One Order' gang for control of Spanish Town. The Klansman faction supports the governing People's National Party (PNP) while the One Order group has allegiance to the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
In July 2004, Oliver 'Bubba' Smith, Bennett's counterpart in the One Order gang, was gunned down in the Whitehall Avenue area of St. Andrew.
MURDER, EXTORTION
Police in Spanish Town say Bennett was involved in crime there since the 1990s. He was first named on the police's Most Wanted list in 2001 on charges of murder and extortion; he was also linked to a triple murder in Portmore in October 2004.
Bennett's death capped a dramatic three-week period in Spanish Town which has been embroiled in gang warfare for the past three years.
On October 6, Omar 'Ticarus' Campbell, a reputed One Order gang member, was shot and killed in the Old Capital. He was travelling in an entourage with the JLP's Central St. Catherine Member of Parliament, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, who had just left a peace meeting with the PNP's South Central St. Catherine MP, Sharon Hay-Webster, at the St. Catherine Parish Council.
Brian Williamson, another man travelling leaving the meeting at the time, was shot and injured. The car in which Ms. Grange was travelling was shot up.
The St. Catherine North police reported that 231 persons were murdered in that division last year. To date, approximately 200 persons have been killed there in 2005.
