Despite the police issuing a recent warning that they will not allow Central Kingston to remain a crime hotspot into 2022, three more murders were recorded in the area between Thursday night and Friday.
The deceased are 50-year-old Sharon Joseph of a Mark Lane address, 39-year-old Carl Jones, a security guard of Wellington Street, and a third victim who has not been identified by the police.
In the first incident on Thursday night, Jones and the unidentified man were gunned down by hoodlums at the intersection of North and King streets.
Reports are that residents heard a barrage of gunshots coming from the area and alerted the police.
The men were found lying on the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds.
They were taken to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
On Friday, sometime before 12 pm, Joseph was at her home on Mark Lane, when gunmen invaded her house and shot her several times before fleeing the scene.
Joseph was transported to hospital, where she died.
The Kingston Central police are probing the latest in a spate of deadly attacks in the area.
On Thursday, December 30, 10-year-old Jezariah Tyrell was shot and killed on Fleet Street in Central Kingston. Her killing came shortly after two men were murdered in the constituency.
The police have charged 22-year-old Tommy Powell, otherwise called ‘Red Head’, with Jezariah’s murder.
In speaking to residents of the area on Friday, December 31, operations officer for the Area Four Police network, Senior Superintendent Steve McGregor, assured residents of Central Kingston that the police will be maintaining a strong presence in the area.
“We are not going to go into the New Year with what is happening in this community. It is going to change, and it is going to change from this afternoon (Friday, December 31),” he declared.
But despite that declaration, murders in the community remain ongoing.
On Thursday of last week, Deputy Superintendent Linval Phoenix, the operations officer for the Kingston Central Police Division, reiterated that the police will be increasing their presence in the division.
Phoenix said, too, that the murders across the division are being fuelled by gang conflicts.
“It’s a fight for control of turf and behind that (is) the whole issue of extortion. That is the main driver of these gang activities and these high incidence of shootings and murders,” he told reporters.
He also said some of the killings are linked to family feuds.
Phoenix said going forward, a more rigorous policing strategy will be employed to diffuse the situation.
“I am definitely sure that the citizenry within all the communities – Parade Gardens, Rose Gardens, Almond Town, over in Love Lane – and the business districts, will definitely be seeing not only increased presence (of the police), but also increased levels of activities as it relates to how we police the ground,” indicated the senior lawman.
A Zone of Special Operations was announced for the Federal Gardens community in Central Kingston on Sunday, with the commissioner of police advising that the community accounted for 16 murders last year, and was among the top 10 most violent areas across the country.
