Security forces comb Grants Pen for guns, gangsters
Published:Tuesday | April 5, 2022 | 12:09 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
With the assistance of the military, the St Andrew North police yesterday increased their presence in the Grants Pen and Cassava Piece communities, conducting walk-throughs as they searched for illegal guns and wanted persons, three days after a triple murder on Friday in Morgan Lane.
Those slain were reputed area leader Bamsha ‘Bomba’ Miller, 44, and his brother, 42-year-old Joseph ‘Joe’ Smith, both of Morgan Lane, as well as 39-year-old Kevin Nester Edie of a Seaview Gardens address.
The shooting occurred about 5:50 p.m. and resulted in a curfew being imposed on Saturday, which remained in effect until 6 p.m. yesterday.
Inspector Tyrone Archer, head of the Grants Pen police, told The Gleaner that intelligence suggests illegal weapons are hidden in the community.
Several premises were searched along Grants Pen Drive as the security forces blanketed the community in an operation Archer deemed effective, having seized items which he said were more qualitative than quantitative.
The Gleaner was on hand during the search of an area called Gully Bank, where old refrigerators, rooftops, pockets in zinc fences and debris were checked for illegal firearms.
One man previously known to the police was taken in to custody.
Residents in neighbouring Morgan Lane were still talking about the bloodshed, which claimed the life of the trio.
The Gleaner understands that an internal feud is believed to be the motive.
“Mi hear the shot dem and mi say, ‘Lord, have mercy!’, and mi run back in a mi house ... . A pure shot fire. Mi all tun fool,” said a family member of two of the deceased, adding that she is still too shock to cry for her slain relatives.
Residents want the police presence maintained in the area, fearing the possibility of further attacks.
“Everybody on edge. You have to look out and keep the children off the street. The area very very tense from Friday. Nobody is really talking and that is the scary part. You just don’t know,” a woman told our news team yesterday.
Grants Pen Division Councillor Winston Ennis, who is also the deputy mayor of Kingston, told The Gleaner last Friday that he had regretted the violent attack and implored the Morgan Lane residents to avoid an escalation.
Meanwhile, in another operation in the division on Monday, the police seized a 9mm Kel-Tec pistol and eight rounds of ammunition on Glen Drive.
No arrests were made and investigations are ongoing.
Lorna Johnson, 60, a businesswoman and community matriarch, was fatally shot after close of business last week Monday, metres from her gate along Glen Drive.
Up to last Saturday, the St Andrew North Police Division had seen three more murders than the 14 recorded for the corresponding period between January 1 and April 2 last year.
Shootings have been on the uptick with 17 in 2022, compared to 12 for the period last year.
The murder toll nationally stood at 382 on Saturday, compared to 389 for the corresponding period in 2021.