Gunmen shooting up homes in St James community

Since the St James police recovered five guns in Cambridge, St James, early last week, gunmen have rummaged through the community, allegedly spraying homes with bullets as they search for their cronies.

A resident of the community told THE STAR that 10 homes were shot up in the Rosemount area of the community.

"Mi sure is 10, cause di people dem who fah house get shot up tell mi," she said.

But the Cambridge police said that residents are afraid to come forward and make formal reports.

"Only one person came forward and made a report, but we heard of at least three homes that were attacked, so there could be more and we don't know about it," a policeman attached to the station said.

According to the Corporate Communications Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, a female was at her home late Thursday night in Rosemount when gunmen fired a barrage of shots at the house.

DOOR KICKED IN

The report said the gunmen kicked the door open and asked the woman for her boyfriend.

The Cambridge police are still carrying out investigations.

Earlier last week, the police recovered one M-16 assault rifle, two shotguns, two 9mm pistols and several rounds of ammunition.

Mayor of Montego Bay, Homer Davis, who is councillor for the division, told THE STAR that the increased violence in the area has caused many residents to leave.

"I heard that families are moving from Rosemount (in Cambridge), but I think that is a natural reaction. People become fearful and they just want to get out of there, and it doesn't matter where they go as long as they are out of the conflict," Davis said.

While stating that he will leave it up to the security forces to decide whether the community should be declared a Zone of Special Operations, Davis said it clear that the area needs some type of special intervention as "Cambridge is going through some serious challenges".

"It is something that the security forces are dealing with because they recovered five guns. So there is no doubt that there is an influx of firearm in the area, but whatever is necessary to curb these senseless behaviour needs to be done," Davis said.