HORRIFYING ATTACKS
Week of murders, robberies, other violent incidents in sections of West Rural St Andrew leaves residents in fear
THE HORROR of a string of murders, an arson attack, shootings, and brazen robberies, all within the course of seven days, has caught the attention of the police, political representatives, and citizenry, with businesses feeling the pinch in West Rural St Andrew.
ACOMMONLY held view that wanton violence and crime cripples economic and social stability was put to test in communities of West Rural St Andrew over the past week, with several violent incidents occurring within hours of each other.
The horror of a string of murders, an arson attack, shootings, and brazen robberies, all within the course of seven days, has caught the attention of the police, political representatives, and citizenry, with businesses feeling the pinch.
Among those recording incidents of serious crime were the adjoining communities of Stony Hill, Golden Spring, Mount James, Temple Hall, and Lawrence Tavern.
“The place come i n like a ghost town and people afraid to move about,” a resident told The Gleaner. “The police say no permit nah run fi people keep dem events if the crime continues. The police tell we straight up say the youth dem nah behave.”
At the Golden Spring Community Centre last Thursday, the police met with stakeholders in an effort to alleviate fears and reassure citizens that law enforcement would not stand by and watch the usually vibrant space become deserted.
DAYTIME ROBBERY
However, almost immediately after that first step towards intervention, there was a shooting and attempted robbery incident in Halls Green Friday night and two separate daytime robbery incidents in Golden Spring and Stony Hill on Saturday.
A gas station was robbed in Golden Spring and a Cash Pot outlet in Stony Hill Square.
A former crime fighter who served the communities is calling for the authorities to do more.
“If the police don’t get more boots on the ground, it is going to be problematic. Stony Hill Police Station serves over 50 communities and Lawrence Tavern about 52. They need more police and vehicles to match the hilly terrains. The place will break out like sore,” the retired police officer, who opted not to be identified, told The Gleaner.
On the heels of the robbery on Main Street in Stony Hill, Tosha Schwapp, councillor for the Stony Hill division, told The Gleaner yesterday that she was aware of the incidents and general violence in the communities she served but that she was confident police investigations would unearth the root cause.
“We do not want a repetition of this. We hope that the JamaicaEye will be able to pick up what transpired and whoever is responsible will be found,” said Schwapp.
JamaicaEye is the national closed-circuit television surveillance programme.
In relation to the murders and shootings, Schwapp said those incidents, based on her own checks, were not political.
Schwapp represents the division for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) while Juliet Cuthbert Flynn, also of the JLP, is the member of parliament for West Rural St Andrew.
“We had a meeting with the police, and they have outlined their findings so far. It has nothing [to do with politics]. It is family, family feud, friend feud, other unresolved issues and such,” Schwapp told The Gleaner.
She said the police are trying to get to the bottom of what the factors causing the violence are to see if restorative justice effor ts, through mediation and counselling, could assist in resolving the issues.
“We need to be cognizant that within most of these communities, a lot of the factors are related to each other. They grew up together and they are families and friends,” Schwapp said.
On May 4, Richard Graham was shot to death and a jerk vendor injured in the same attack in Golden Spring Square.
That marked the third gun murder in that location in less than a year.
Earlier that Saturday, a motorcyclist was shot and killed after, reportedly, he made a U-turn to watch a robbery in progress in 15 Miles, Temple Hall.
Last Wednesday, a popular taxi operator, who went by the name ‘Crocs’, was shot and killed about 5:15 a.m. as he was about to leave his home in Rocky Valley in Stony Hill.
Unconfirmed reports are that he was to migrate on Friday.
Last Thursday morning, an arson attack and shooting occurred at a home along Airy Castle Road in Stony Hill.
Residents were awakened by loud explosions, thick chunks of smoke, and sirens from police and fire trucks.
Two occupants of the house escaped unharmed after men with high-powered weapons knocked on the door and then opened fire.
The two-bedroom house was subsequently set ablaze.
“When you see these kinds of acts of violence you know it’s not local. It appears, as word on the ground suggests, that the violence is being fuelled by ‘importees’. Lighting a house with family inside is what we usually see associated with areas like Maxfield and Spanish Town, not Stony Hill,” a resident said, adding that she had never been so fearful in all her 45 years being a resident in the community.
CORDON AND SEARCH
Superintendent Shericka Service, commanding officer for the St Andrew North Police Division, said law enforcement was of the view that the Rocky Valley murder and arson attack incidents were related.
“Investigations continue in this regard to see what connections really, if any, [there are] between the arson and shooting and the murder which would have occurred (in Rocky Valley),” Superintendent Service told RJR News.
The police have since stepped up patrols with the assistance of the military, who have been doing round-the-clock cordon and search activities to prevent any further disruption.
“I feel safer when I see the police and soldier dem because I have never seen West Rural St Andrew like this. We can’t catch a break. Is just one thing after the next, and everyone is fearful. Murders, robbery, shootings, no sah! Innocent people don’t stand a chance against the sort of violence playing out on the hills,” a business operator told The Gleaner.
The residents and business community are calling for greater attention and for it to be constant as the areas have the potential to drive national crime statistics through the roof.
As at May 4, the St Andrew North Police Division recorded 17 murders, on par with the comparative period last year.
There was a 23 per cent increase in shootings, with five more incidents than the corresponding period in 2023.
Rape is down 50 per cent, robbery down 47 per cent, and break-ins have declined by 46 per cent.