KILLING SPREE

Curfews were imposed in Olympic Gardens and Waterhouse late Tuesday as law enforcers scrambled to rein in escalating violence as five persons were murdered in the St Andrew South Police Division in 24 hours.

That intervention was activated after a high-level meeting of the top brass in the sprawling division, which is a hunting ground teeming with more than 50 active gangs.

Several persons are also nursing wounds from three separate gun attacks – a prism of Jamaica’s endemic violence crisis, with nationwide murders soaring six per cent year-on-year.

In the first incident, shortly after noon, 33-year-old Tashana Josephs was found dead in a house along Maxfield Avenue with multiple gunshot wounds to her face.

Her daughter, who is to start school Wednesday, told The Gleaner that she was at the tailor’s overseeing the final touches to her uniform when she received a call.

The daughter, an only child, said that could not bear to go look at her mother’s body still lying on a bed.

That section of Whitfield Town has been under curfew since 6 p.m Monday and is slated to end at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

In the second incident, about 4:30 p.m. during heavy rains, masked men travelling on a motorcycle drove to Welcome Avenue and opened fire, hitting three men at a shop.

Dead are Andre ‘Bull Head’ Clarke and Jermaine Morgan.

The other man is still hospitalised.

While at that scene, the police received reports that heavy gunfire was heard near the Olympic Gardens Police Station at McDonald Place.

Three men were found suffering from gunshot wounds.

Two of the victims have since succumbed to injuries.

One of the dead men in that incident has since been identified as 42-year-old Andy Leighton Christian, a contractor.

A close relative told The Gleaner that Christian had just stopped at the location to drop off workmen.

“He is not a gangster. Him just deh at the wrong place at the wrong time. We see the car a circle-circle like a somebody dem a look for and it’s like dem get fed up and just shoot up the place,” she said, crying.

Reports are that about 5:55 p.m., a silver Toyota Axio motor car pulled up to the entrance of McDonald Place and opened fire on a group of men before escaping.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Coleridge Minto, the division’s operations chief, told The Gleaner that there are sweeping gang conflicts across the division.

Minto said that over the last 72 hours, the division has had a flare-up of violence. Some of those attacks are being probed by the top-flight Major Investigation Division.

“We continue to appeal to the residents to provide any information that they have to the police and allow the police to do their jobs as against trying to do a reprisal and taking matters into their own hands,” Minto said.

The area known as Compound, in the vicinity of the Olympic Gardens Police Station, recorded a double murder on Sunday. However, Minto said that he could not confirm if the McDonald Place incident is related.

He said the police have been keeping a close eye on Compound.

“It kind of shows that persons pay very scant regard for law and order, and whether it is in front of the station or in some lane, they are going to take their action when they get an opportunity, and so what we have to be doing is dominating the space with the assets we have,” Minto said.

The deputy superintendent theorised that scouts using cell phones are tipping off operatives when to strike.

He said the police are organizing some strategies to deal with the increase in gang violence.

“This division has over 70 gangs, with over 50 of them being very active. So you understand that on a daily basis, we have to be treating with gang conflicts. The curfew was launched in the Whitfield Town area given the nature of what was happening there in terms of violence and shootings,” Minto told The Gleaner.

He said prior to Sunday, the division appeared to be winning the war on murders and shootings, with year-on-year declines. That outlook may change with the bloodletting over the past 96 hours.

Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson said that 71 per cent of murders this year are gang related, while 15 per cent stem from interpersonal conflicts.

“Most importantly, we will continue our strong community engagement as we partner to bring the changes that our communities and our country deserve. We have to keep the focus on criminals and their means of committing crimes: gunmen, gangs, and guns,” Anderson said during a press briefing Tuesday.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com