Spanish Town residents in fear after flare-up

Mary* fears that she may lose her job as waitress at a restaurant due to imminent threat of violence in Spanish Town, St Catherine, where she resides.

This, after a flare-up following the death of Sheldon Walters, otherwise called 'Termite', who was killed in an alleged shootout with the police in the Top Banks community on Friday.

"I live in March Pen Road and I couldn't even leave work to go home Friday night. My employers had to put me up for the night. It's scary what's going to happen in Spanish Town in the coming days," Mary lamented, worrying if deaths will begin to spiral in the old capital. Jane*, a mother of two, is scared for her children.

"Me work late and me just pray say nothing nuh happen to dem when dem a lef from school cause dem affi go inna the town. When me come home from work a night, me affi run go inna me yard. It rough out already and nothing nuh start yet," she said. Jane lives in the vicinity of Shelter Rock, which was the scene of another fatal police shooting last Saturday. The deceased was identified as Charles 'Chubs' McDonald. He is one of three men killed in separate shooting incidents involving the police in Spanish Town on the weekend. The third man has been identified as Joseph Campbell.

A resident of Rivoli said that although the shootings did not cause flare-ups there, there was still palpable tension.

"Police and gunman dem did at it this [Sunday] morning. Me wah lef me yard and fraid fi come out. Me affi find a way fi lef from Spanish Town cause me can tell yuh say it ago get hot," the woman said. She added that she has been a resident of Spanish Town for more than a decade and cannot get used to the violence.

"Me nuh know what peace of mind look or feel like fi tell yuh the truth. Me live pon edge every day and dem shooting here ago make it worse," the 40-year-old said.

*Names changed to protect identity