IN JAMAICA: Hell in West Kingston..... Five shot dead between Tuesday night and yesterday...."Right now we are in fear; everyday there is another shooting [and] we don't know who will be next," said a female resident of Denham Town."These criminals [are] going after each other despite the presence of the police; we are worried,"

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, May 08, 2014    

FIVE people were shot and killed in the Kingston Western Police Division between Tuesday and yesterday evening as gunmen continued their rampage in the city's west end.

The first incident, police said, took place on Race Course Road about 9:20 Tuesday night when a man, identified as Gerrel Bravo, alias 'Neiko', of Upper Regent Street was shot dead by gunmen while driving his motor vehicle in the area.

This placard carries a strong message from
 residents of West Kingston who say they
 are tired of violence in their communities.

Residents reported hearing loud explosions and alerted the police, who searched the area and found Bravo's body slumped over the steering wheel of the vehicle.

Less than half an hour later, gunmen struck in Denham Town when a construction worker, identified as Vernon Vanzie, otherwise called 'Buba' and 'Anthony', was chased and shot dead while standing among a group of children on Metcalfe Street. While police were at that crime scene they were informed of another shooting, on Lincoln Crescent, where Kevin Black, a gas pump attendant, was shot several times as he stood outside a bar. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Two more murders were reported in the western section of the capital city yesterday evening. Details on yesterday's killings were not immediately available but the Jamaica Observer was told by a police source that one man was shot and killed on Pink Lane and the other on Hannah Street.

Police at crime scene

The killings, based on Observer calculations, has brought to nine the number of people killed in West Kingston in the last five weeks.

Residents of the area said yesterday that they were worried about the upsurge in gun violence.

"Right now we are in fear; everyday there is another shooting [and] we don't know who will be next," said a female resident of Denham Town."These criminals [are] going after each other despite the presence of the police; we are worried," said

another resident.more