Wildman Street tense after double shooting

Residents in the vicinity of Rose Gardens, including Wildman Street in central Kingston, are reacting to two shootings that happened five hours apart in their community in an unusual manner on Tuesday.

When THE STAR visited the community after the incidents, children were seen playing in streets while adults chatted cheerfully in groups, some tuning in to the first day of Boys and Girls' Championships via radio.

"It nuh really deh pon we mind as you can see business place still open and everybody a go bout dem business," a resident said.

A senior citizen who was sitting among a group of men listening to radio coverage of the first day of Boys and Girls' Championships said the presence of the police in the area has brought some level of calmness.

"Di police really deh here so we feel better fi come out here," he said.

But a mother of two, who said that she was on her phone with her mother when the barrage of shots startled her, admitted to being scared.

"Mi scared, yes, 'cause if mi never scared mi son would be out here a play wid him friend dem," she said.

SECOND SHOOTING

The Corporate Communications Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force said the second shooting happened approximately 8:50 a.m. The injured man, whose name was not released, was standing on Wildman Street when an assailant walked up and opened fire on him, hitting him in the upper body. He was taken to the hospital where he was admitted in serious condition.

According to residents, the first shooting happened about 2 a.m.

"Mi hear it was a man of unsound mind who got shot. He is in the hospital," said one resident.