Tension reignites in Park, 100 lanes after women shot in drive-by

There is renewed tension in Park Lane and 100 Lane communities along Red Hills Road in St Andrew, following the shooting injury of two women – one pregnant – on Sunday after a reported abduction attempt and drive-by attack.

A 48-hour curfew was imposed in the area on Monday night.

The Gleaner understands that in Sunday’s latest attack, one of the women sustained a bullet wound to a breast and the other in the buttocks.

Our news team was told that July 24 will mark four years since the mysterious disappearance of a member of the community, which is reportedly at the root of the ongoing turmoil that has displaced several people over time..

Residents say that on July 24, 2021 – also the day of a triple murder in the area – men dressed in police gear reportedly drove an unmarked car into the community and ordered Shadane ‘Kishi’ Bryan into the vehicle before reversing at high speed out of the community despite their objections.

The police have maintained they were not part of any operation to remove Bryan.

He has never been seen or heard from since.

INTERNAL FEUD

There has since been several shootings, murders and growing tension in the communities, reportedly linked to the internal feud.

“A di yute dem weh run weh, a dem strike back Sunday night … . Dem want back the place, so a the same old war a gwan. Man weh deh a prison and man weh deh a foreign a fight this war,” one resident said.

The Gleaner was told that the shooting on Sunday followed an unsuccessful abduction attempt.

“Dem see a youth – him a no gangster – him and one of the woman dem a par and dem come and jam dem and tell dem fi go in a the car right pon the front weh the jerk stand dem deh, and dem run off, and dem run dem down and fire up pure shot. A so the woman dem get gunshot,” an alleged eyewitness said.

Jerk vendors along the corridor are concerned as the violence has dealt a sever blow to their livelihoods.

“Anytime war a gwan, nobody nah buy chicken or food. Curfew mean say the place lock down early and people who would come here, go other places. We can’t manage di war,” one jerk vendor lamented.

“The place tense bad,” said one resident. “One man a send orders from prison and one deh a Canada a fund the badness. They had family that run away, too, from Park Lane and a so the internal conflict just a grow. Nobody nah cry peace.”

The St Andrew North police said they are monitoring the latest flare-up and said residents will have to adjust to new security measures.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com