Two men killed in fourth day of Jamaican violence
The violence that started on Friday has now left eight people dead and
11 people
injured, police said.
Police said the violence is being waged between gangs in the neighboring
communities of Tel Aviv and Matthew's Lane, sparked by the shooting death
of a
Tel Aviv resident last week.
On Monday, two men were killed by several gunmen in the central Kingston
area,
police said.
Constable Wayne Santouse of the Special Anti Crime Task Force was shot
and
injured by gunmen in west Kingston, police said. He was with a patrol that
came
under fire from gunmen who then fled on foot, police said. Three police
cars also
were damaged. There were no arrests.
"The areas are still tense but the security forces are present to help
put things under
control," said police spokeswoman Constable Natasha Green.
Military helicopters and soldiers deployed on Sunday were maintaining a
presence in
the areas, but officials would not say how many were there. A curfew also
has
been enforced to keep people off the streets after dark.
Still, Deputy Police Superintendent James Forbes said the security forces,
especially the police, are short by at least 1,000 personnel.
Gangs with clashing political loyalties dominate several areas of the city,
especially
west Kingston, where gunfights flared in May, leaving nearly 100 people
dead in
three months.
However, the neighborhoods of Tel Aviv and Matthew's Lane, about 1 mile
(1.5
kilometers) apart, both largely support the governing People's National
Party.
Several families in the areas have already fled their homes and others
were
preparing to leave.
"I am not going to wait until this gets worse like the war in July," said
Sylvia
Falconer, a 38-year-old mother of three who lives in the Matthew's Lane
area.
Kingston's gangs -- used by politicians in the 1970s and 1980s to bring
voters to
the polls -- still maintain strong party loyalties.
Also in central Kingston on Tuesday, a protest by street vendors angry
about being
forced out of the area caused many stores to close in the commercial center.
Police
kept a strong presence in the area to guard stores they feared might be
looted, but
there were no arrests.
Although most of the 10,000 vendors in the area moved into the 12 markets
refurbished by the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corp., others bearing placards
refused to do so, screaming "No sellers, no stores." Some said it would
hurt
business to move locations before their key sales season before Christmas.
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