St James gun violence bothers senior cop
DARLISTON, Westmoreland — Director of safety and security in schools in the Ministry of Education, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Coleridge Minto, has expressed concern over the spate of gun violence in St James and its impact on students in the parish.
“I am very concerned. I have been in St James particularly because of the issues that are affecting our children in this particular end of the island. It is very unfortunate that persons have absolutely no regard for life or property, that they can continue to do these acts of violence against our people,” said ASP Minto.
Last Tuesday, two students of the Maldon High School in St James were shot and injured as gunmen shot up a Toyota Coaster bus, killing the driver of the vehicle who was transporting the students to school.The injured students were rushed to hospital for treatment.
And later that day, students of the Glendevon Primary and Junior High, also in St James, were locked in classrooms for almost an hour as rival gangs traded bullets in the inner-city community.
Police were later deployed to the school in an effort to allow students safe passage home. A similar incident again took place on Thursday.
ASP Minto told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday, following a community meeting held at the Maud McLeod High School in Darliston, Westmoreland, that he has since visited the injured Maldon High students, noting that one of them has been released from hospital.
“I would have visited with the two children that were shot in the bus. One is still admitted in hospital; the other was released and is at home recovering.
My understanding is that she will be back in school in a couple of days. Her injury was less severe than the other that was admitted,” informed ASP Minto.
And, ASP Minto has commended the management of the Glendevon Primary and Junior High for the professional manner in which they handled the situation during last week’s gun battle in the community.
“The principal and her team were able to contain the students in the confines of the classrooms and lock them in. For them to manage that situation without panicking, without getting hysterical… and we are talking about primary school students, at that level.
And even after the shooting ended, the report I got is that they allowed the students to remain in the classrooms until the police came… that is proper management, that is forward thinking, so we have a lot of commendation for the staff at Glendevon,” Minto stated.