WESTERN BUREAU:
THERE ARE fears that yesterday's shooting of two teenagers, one fatally, by gunmen during separate incidents in Falmouth could renew hostilities between feuding gangs in that town.
The dead teen has been identified as 15-year-old Lennon 'JJ' Clarke, a dropout of the Cedric Titus High School in the parish.
Hours later, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the mouth by gunmen, just metres away from where Clarke was killed. He has been hospitalised. Residents believe that his shooting was in reprisal for Clarke's murder.
Meanwhile, Dennis Meadows, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) deputy general secretary and constituency caretaker for North Trelawny, says urgent social intervention is needed in the Dump, Compound and Race Course areas.
TIME TO STEP IN
"I am calling for the immediate intervention of the Peace Management Initiative in Falmouth to arrest the ongoing gang warfare in the community for the past three years," Mr. Meadows stated.
"The political leadership of the constituency is preoccupied with Cricket World Cup 2007 while ignoring the grave social ills that are affecting the community of Falmouth and adjoining communities," he added.
Clarke was shot and killed by gunmen about 3:15 a.m. at a two-room wooden house at 19 Wellington Street. Citizens who reported hearing explosions and saw fire at the premises alerted the police.
When the lawmen and firefighters arrived, the structure was engulfed in flames. The blaze was put out and Clarke's charred remains with gunshot wounds were found among the rubble.
