‘No Christmas’ for Denham Town as crime flares
Published:Thursday | December 23, 2021 | 12:13 AM
Gunshots are the only fireworks residents and children of Denham Town in the Kingston Western Police Division are anticipating this Christmas after Wednesday’s shooting incident near North and Regent streets.
A 25-year-old man known only as ‘Papa Less’ was shot by a gunman as he drove a motorcycle through the community.
The incident occurred about 11:20 a.m.
The injured man was shot in the back and leg but managed to drive himself to the nearby Kingston Public Hospital (KPH).
Up to news time, reports are that his condition was stable.
The area remains tense as some parents fear a reprisal attack that would worsen the strife in the already divided community.
“Mi nah kill up myself and buy no clothes fi go nowhere ‘cause no Christmas,” a resident, requesting anonymity, said.
Another resident said the explosions disrupted her online classes and have caused disturbances on previous occasions.
“If the youth couldn’t ride, a dead him dead. The person shoot after him head first, and him haffi manoeuvre the bike. Right now him a no bad man, but him come from weh some of the gangster dem deh, so dem a go defend it,” the resident said.
A relative of the injured man told The Gleaner that Christmas will be rough in Denham Town.
The traditional discharge of explosives has been drowned out by the cacophony of gunfire, householders say.
“The kids dem haffi stay off the road because a pure shot a fire,” another mother said.
The constabulary’s information arm told The Gleaner that the shooting incident is being probed by detectives assigned to the Kingston Western police.
Division commander, Superintendent Michael Phipps, could not be reached by phone.
Up to December 18, the division had seen increases of 16.3 per cent and 4.7 per cent in murders and shootings, respectively.
There were 107 murders when compared to 92 for the corresponding period.
The police have reported five more shootings than the 106 recorded in 2020.