Tyrone Reid, Enterprise Reporter

Candle wax from a vigil held in remembrance of two residents who were brutally killed in August was still on the wall of their home when four ruthless gunmen invaded the east Kingston community of Vineyard Town and shot three children and two adults yesterday.

A report from the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) revealed that the brazen shooting occurred around 8:30 yesterday morning at a house on Robert Avenue at the intersection of First Avenue, which is less than a minute's drive from the Vineyard Town Police Station. While the police are yet to establish a motive for the shooting, the residents believe that it is just another chapter in a bloody, politically motivated feud.

The three children, aged nine, seven and four, have been hospitalised in serious condition. The man and the woman, who are both 44 years old, are also in serious condition and are being treated at hospital.

Evidence of violence

When The Gleaner visited the scene yesterday, the tragedy was visible. Broken glass littered the veranda, while some six bullet holes were in a bedroom door. A ransacked living room, bloodstains and a pool of blood in the bathroom told the rest of the chilling tale.

The CCN was unable to confirm whether the adults are the parents of the children who were shot. However, residents told The Gleaner that the injured man was able to stab one of his attackers. Unconfirmed reports late yesterday were that the gunman who was stabbed turned up at hospital for treatment and was accosted by the police.

While the CCN report said the five were inside the house when the shooting occurred, the residents told a slightly different tale. The residents said the man was on Robert Avenue, cutting grass, when gunmen came through some bushes and opened fire on him. However, he managed to run into the yard and then make his escape through another gate and then down First Avenue in the direction of McGregor Gully. The gunmen who entered the yard behind him stopped chasing him and went inside the house where they opened fire hitting the woman and the children all over their bodies.

The residents lamented that the gunmen who have been terrorising their community always use the bushes on Robert Avenue to ambush the residents.

Obviously stumped by the viciousness of the attack, a resident questioned what kind of statement the gunmen could possibly want to make by shooting children.

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com