Adrian Frater, News Editor

This footpath, the only entrance to the Canterbury community, serves as a handicap to policing. The wall in the background bears portraits of residents killed in gun violence over the years. - Photos by Adrian Frater

WESTERN BUREAU:

A PALL of gloom yesterday hung over the Canterbury area of Montego Bay following a horrifying weekend in which marauding thugs armed with assault rifles shot and injured four persons, and forced others to flee in fear.

"What is going on in this community is absolute madness," said Dr. Horace Chang, the Member of Parliament-elect for the area. "The people are under siege and the police must come in and do something about it."

The shootings, believed to be acts of reprisal for the recent shooting of a renowned area leader, have left the community traumatised, as residents are fearful that the violence will intensify and result in loss of life.

"Dem gunman yah mad ... all when police come, dem still a buss shot," said one resident who was seen fleeing the community on Saturday. "I am leaving. Tonight can't catch me over yah."

Reacting to the mayhem, head of the St. James Police Division, Supt. Steve McGregor, said that Canterbury, which can only be accessed by foot, makes policing extremely challenging.

"We are developing some strategies to deal with the situation and we know it is going to cause some amount of inconvenience to the residents, but we just have to do what we have got to do," said Superintendent McGregor. "Our initial investigations are pointing to political difference between rival factions."

Three hurt

In the first incident which occurred about 10:00 p.m. on Friday, six men armed with assault rifles opened fire on a group of residents, hitting a 20-year-old man in his right arm and grazing four others.

On Saturday, about 1:00 p.m., four gunmen opened fire on another group of residents, in proximity to where the shootings occurred the previous day, hitting a 20-year-old woman in her stomach and grazing the left cheek of a little girl.

A police unit, which was responding to the first shooting incident on Saturday, was just in time to witness another group of heavily armed men chasing several residents and firing shots wildly about 1:30 p.m.

Canterbury was the scene of an infamous all-day shoot-out between the police and gunmen in October 2003. In that incident, three policemen were shot and injured, three alleged gunmen killed and eight illegal assault rifles and several hundred rounds of ammunition were seized.

Dr. Horace Chang, incoming Member of Parliament for North West St. James, yesterday points to a bullet hole in the community's post office after a gun attack in Canterbury on the weekend.