Savagery has gripped Westmoreland and now the whole Parish is on standby for more killings. Seven people were killed in a single day of violence that has turned the attention of the security forces to the once peaceful Parish.
The victims of the attack are;
* Nicoy Myers
* Odane Drummond
* Nadine Rowe
* Nicoy Bourne (Nadine Rowe’s son)
* Sheldon Morgan Snr
* Sheldon Morgan Jr (son of Sheldon Snr)
* Tristan Brown
All the shootings occurred in Grange Hill
The carnage began in the morning around 8 am when men entered the Grange Hill and began their shooting spree.
All the killings did not happen at once, there were 5 separate attacks within a single day in a single area.
Odane Drummond was the first to be killed, then it was Nadine Rowe and her son. Sheldon Snr and Jr were the next set of victims.
Tristan Brown was killed shortly after and Nicoy Myers was the final person to be found dead after all the chaos.
How long did the forces take to respond?
The first shootings started at 8 am in the morning and last ones ended at 10 pm that same night. Residents are frustrated that so much damage could be done over such a long period of time and with no intervention from the police.
To make things worse, when the men were leaving they burned a shop and three houses to ashes.
Crime in Jamaica is fluid and mobile
You lock down St James and St Catherine and think all is well but that isn’t the case. As soon as one place gets calm and peaceful, another one rises up to take over the killings.
There have now been 60 killings in Westmoreland since the start of the year.
We cannot keep declaring a state of emergencies all over the country. That is not an effective long-term solution but based on the short-term success we have seen so far in St James, Westmoreland could be next on the list.
The police believe the violence is a result of an ongoing feud related to lottery scamming.
