Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
The criminal mayhem which has gripped Montego Bay in recent weeks raised its ugly head on Sunday night when gunmen opened fire at a children's party in Porto Bello, killing one man and sending scores of children fleeing in panic.
The dead man has been identified as 19-year-old David 'Oliver' Morrison, of Porto Bello and Hart Street addresses.
The police said he has had several brushes with the law but was not wanted for any offences at the time of his death.
Eyewitnesses say that about 8:45 p.m., the children's party was in full swing when Morrison, who was walking by, stopped to light a cigarette. Shortly after, unknown assailants reportedly crept up behind him and opened fire, hitting him four times.
As the shots rang out, the music and the merry-making ended as the children fled in panic.
When The Gleaner visited the death scene, a number of children who fell in the mad scramble to get out of harms way, were seen examining scratches and bruises.
Family members of the deceased man wept bitterly, claiming that they knew of no reason why anyone would want to kill him in the gruesome, gangland-style manner in which he was murdered.
"So a suh dem a dweet, dem kill me pickney just so," said a woman who identified herself as the deceased man's mother but refused to give her name. "A grudge dem grudge him because dem can't live like him."
With a total of seven murders within a week in problem-plagued areas such as Bottom Pen and Salt Spring, a top-level police team headed by Deputy Commissioners of Police Mark Shields and Assistant Commisioner of Police Denver Frater visited Montego Bay to assure residents that steps were being taken to stem the violence.
"We want residents to know that we are committed to putting an end to the violence," said ACP Frater. "We also want them to know that we are seeking their cooperation because the police can't do this alone."
Since Montego Bay recorded 100 murders for the first time in 2001, the parish has been recording in excess of a hundred murders every year since. The city has had 120 murders since January.
