Flankers bleeds after months of peace
Published:Saturday | October 8, 2022 | 12:10 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
After more than a year of peace, bloody violence rocked the community of Flankers in St James on Thursday night as gunmen ambushed patrons at a shop, killing two men and injuring two others.
The deceased have been identified as 34-year-old Bobby Campbell and 18-year-old Omar Warren, both of Codac Lane in the community.
Councillor for the Montego Bay North East Division, which incorporates Flankers, Charles Sinclair told reporters that the community has made significant strides over the recent years to turn its back on its troubled past with residents working to keep the peace.
“Of course, there is tension sometimes between the spaces, but persons appreciate it and just try to be civil and try to enjoy themselves within their respective space instead of committing mayhem,” he said.
“ ... When I just came here in the early years, we had 39 murders in one year, and we are down to some years when we had none. This year, there was only one. Now we’ve increased it by the number to three,” added Sinclair, labelling Thursday night’s attack as a backward step for the community.
He said that he and other members of the political directorate will be working closely with the families of the victims and other residents to restore calm to the area.
According to reports, Campbell and Warren were among a group of persons at a shop along Codac Lane about 10:50 p.m., when they were ambushed by armed men. The assailants shot Campbell and Warren as well as Campbell’s relative, who operates the shop, and a 39-year-old fisherman before escaping in a waiting motor car.
The police were summoned, and upon arrival, all four victims were discovered suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. They were transported to a medical facility, where Campbell and Warren were pronounced dead.
Warren’s mother, Roselyn James, was overcome with emotions as she mourned the death of her teenage son when The Gleaner visited the community on Friday.
“Mi son is not a bad person. Him just act like him is a little child. You understand? Dem just come and – mi nuh know, mi nuh know if mi can look pon mi pickney,” she said.
“Mi nuh know how mi go manage, how mi go get over it ... although every minute mi and him in a argument, but the argument is just fi sweep up the yard and wash him clothes,” James said.
Campbell’s mother, Pauline Simpson, said that she believes that everyone liked her son because although he was very arrogant, he is very easy to like.
“You have fi know how fi approach him and know how fi talk to him and them things deh, and him is a party-going person. Everything in a the community, him is there,” she said.
“Yesterday, mi talk to him pon the step, mi seh to him seh, ‘Bobby, you need to watch you talking. Watch how you walk a road. Check yourself and watch yourself’,” Simpson added.
The distraught mother said she saw a tragic event coming her son’s way from a long time ago.
Following the shooting incident, the police and members of the Jamaica Defence Force stepped up patrols in and around the area.