A policeman stands beside the Toyota Coaster bus which was shot up yesterday by gunmen on Maxfield Avenue in Kingston. The vehicle was parked outside the Half-Way-Tree Police Station. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

A group of heavily-armed gunmen yesterday opened fire on a bus transporting about 30 students home from school, in an apparent robbery attempt in the vicinity of Whitfield Town, along Maxfield Avenue in Kingston.

Miraculously, none of the students was harmed and last night the visibly shaken driver of the bus, Anthony Gordon, said that the children, who all reside in Portmore, St Catherine, were shaken but safe.

According to Gordon, who uses the vehicle to take the children to and from different schools in Kingston, the gunmen were apparently exploiting the bad road conditions as a result of heavy downpours in sections of the city earlier in the day.

"There was a lot of water on the road so we were driving slowly," Gordon told the Observer yesterday, approximately two hours after the incident.

"When I reached in the vicinity of Whitfield Town, I saw a group of men all with handguns. They tried to open the door but could not and when they failed, they opened fire at the bus," said the shaken driver.

According to Gordon, the only thing that came to mind was to reverse the vehicle. "I put the vehicle in reverse, because that was my only defence then," he said.

About five of the bus windows were shattered by the gunmen's bullets, while the windshield had seven bullet holes. There were also several holes in the sides of the bus. Bullet fragments were also seen on the driver's seat and at least three of the shots were lodged in the dashboard of the vehicle.

The shooting, he said, caused panic among the students who screamed uncontrollably during the ordeal.
"Everyone was scared, bawling and screaming like crazy," he said.

"I just could not believe what the men did, attacking us in this way," the driver told the Observer. "It is a miracle to see that no one got hurt. I don't know how we escaped this but we have to give thanks to the Lord."

"God was with him and those children today," one woman said as she shook her head in disgust after looking at the bus which was parked at the Half-Way Tree Police Station.

Police from the Hunts Bay Police Station last night issued a warning to motorists to avoid Maxfield Avenue during heavy rains as gunmen are known to prey on motorists in that section of the city whenever there is a downpour.

"We always try to have police out there everytime the rain falls. Men come out in their raincoats and rob people. The public should be very careful when they drive along Maxfield Avenue during heavy rains," Detective Inspector Altermoth "Para" Campbell of the Hunts Bay Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday.

- Additional reporting by staff reporter Karyl Walker

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