Recently, a tragic shooting at a party in Rockfort resulted in three deaths and four injuries. Though the community has become desensitised to gun violence,  this incident has caused fear because of the area's history of reprisal attacks. The police are conducting an investigation, and residents express concerns about the ongoing gang war and potential for further violence. The East Kingston Police Division, where Rockfort is situated, has recorded a similar number of murders compared to the previous year, but break-ins have seen a rise.

Rockfort fears dark days ahead after gunmen kill 3, injure 4 at party

5 Aug 2023/Andre Williams/Staff Reporter andre.williams@gleanerjm.com

BLOODSTAINS WHICH lined Rusden Road in Rockfort, Kingston, on Friday told the tale of the terrifying onslaught that transpired during a party Thursday night, leaving three people dead and four others nursing gun-related injuries.

Those killed are 22-year-old Warren Benjamin, a fisherman of Adestra Road, Kingston 2; 19-yearold Raheem Walters, construction worker of Belmont Road, Kingston; and an unidentified male believed to be in his mid-20s.

The police say the unidentified man is about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with an owl tattooed on his neck and a lion on his left forearm.

A resident of the community told The Gleaner that they have become so accustomed to multiple people dying in gun attacks that many are no longer moved by single-fatal incidents.

This latest bloodshed, however, has sent residents cowering in fear as mass shootings and killing in the area are notoriously synonymous with bloody reprisal attacks.

“Right now, dem only a mek the community darker … . Nobody will come here if they don’t live here. The crowd shooting ting is what they are doing. From crowd gather, you can expect attacks. This shooting a come off another incident a few weeks ago,” the resident said.

Detectives from the Major Investigation Division (MID) have been assigned to probe Thursday’s deadly shooting.

Reports from the Elletson Road police are that about 11 p.m., the seven victims were among patrons at a Topless Thursday party, when a man stepped outside the bar and opened gunfire at the group.

When the shooting subsided, five men and two women were seen with gunshot wounds.

The police were summoned and they were taken to hospital.

Three of the victims were pronounced dead, while the others were admitted in stable condition.

NEVER-ENDING GANG WAR

An elderly resident told The Gleaner that the gang war in the community keeps reinventing itself.

“When people don’t hear anything happening in Rockfort is like they using the downtime to plan an attack,” the resident said.

He, too, underscored that house-bombings and mass killings were common practices for the gangsters, who he believes use the strength of outside forces to carry out attacks.

As at July 29 this year, the East Kingston Police Division in which Rockfort is located had recorded 29 murders, the same figure it did for the corresponding period in 2022.

Reports of shooting, injured persons, rape and robbery were showing slight year-on-year decline.

Break-ins, however, were up 17 per cent.

The national murder tally stands at 786 – a 12 per cent decline year-on-year.

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