A shooting incident on Wednesday night has spread fear in the Clevedale, Black Rock, St Michael community after gunmen sprayed the area of Plum Tree Road with bullets and left three people injured.
The gunplay sent mainly women with children scampering to safety and renewed calls for something to be done about the violence.
When the Weekend Nation visited the area just after noon yesterday, there was a stillness in the air.
Marva Hoyte was gripped by fear when the gunshots rang out in the neighbourhood and for a heart-stopping moment, one of the victims ran between her home. He was seeking cover from the bullets behind galvanised sheets.
Several of those bullets damaged the pedestal in her verandah, the side of her home, as well as the wooden door and galvanised sheets at the back of the home.
She said the neighbourhood was not known for any such occurrences.
“I want [Prime Minister] Mia [Mottley] to bring back hanging because when a man can walk down some place and start to shoot at people just so, it means that they don’t care nothing about other people’s lives. If they hear hanging come, they know they would dead and that would make them stop,” she said.
Police said the shooting incident occurred about 7:47 p.m. along Plum Tree Road, St Stephens Hill, Black Rock, when two men exited a white car and walked along the road while discharging a number of gunshots.
Three people received injuries along with the damage to Hoyte’s house. One of the injured people were transported in a private vehicle to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he received medical treatment. The two other persons, a man and a woman, were seen by ambulance personnel and declined to seek further medical aid.
Another resident from the area expressed concern about what could have happened since there were several children who lived and played in the area.
The woman, who did not want her name mentioned, said that moments before the gunplay, her grandmother had closed her shop and went home next door. Soon after, she ended up having to drop to the floor with her one-year-old grandchild when the shots were fired.
Still shaking with fright, the grandmother managed to get to the door and closed it to prevent anyone from entering.
Another resident who also asked to remain anonymous, was outside with her daughter when she heard the gunshots. She was first in disbelief, assuming someone was hitting galvanised sheets only to realise what was happening when other shots followed. She immediately darted inside her home and out of harm’s way with her daughter.
She called for crime and violence to end, noting the incident now placed a bad stain on the quiet community.
“It needs to end, because none of them that do the shooting live out here. They should not be doing stupid things somewhere where they don’t live. They now come and put a bad name out here,” she said.
Another resident said several women with children in the area tried to shield and carry them to safety, noting one woman was trying to run out of the car with her one-month-old baby and her son and ended up squeezing the baby’s leg in the car, leaving a scar. (AJ)
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