FOUR WEEKS ago the small community of Little Kew Road in the East Central St. Andrew constituency was stunned by a double murder; the killings continued on Sunday night when six more people were shot, three fatally.
Head of the St. Andrew Central Criminal Investigative Bureau (CIB), Acting Deputy Superintendent McArthur Sutherland, has linked the shooting to an ongoing gang feud, which he believes is a spin-off from another dispute which started in the Lincoln and Gem Road areas of St. Andrew several months ago.
Those killed on Sunday have been identified only as 'Miguel', 'Sando' and Orlando 'Omar' Thompson, all of Kingston 10 addresses.
According to the police, the men were murdered shortly after 10:00 p.m. when a group of gunmen armed with high-powered weapons opened fire on residents along Little Kew Road.
When the shooting subsided, six people were found suffering from gunshot wounds. Three men were pronounced dead at the scene while the others were rushed to hospital. The latest killings have pushed the homicide rate to 1,493, since the start of the year.
BREAKAWAY FACTION
"The guys killed were part of a breakaway faction from Gem Road. They were being hunted by the killers," Superintendent Sutherland told The Gleaner yesterday.
The police report further indicated that the men were sitting on a bridge along the roadway, drinking alcohol and smoking ganja when they were surprised by the gun-toting criminals, who visited the area several days ago looking for them.
Preliminary investigations have so far revealed that one of the victims, 'Miguel', was wanted by the Kingston West police in connection with several counts of murder and shooting.
