A late morning gunfight yesterday left two men dead in Union Gardens, a depressed community in Kingston.

Police identified the dead as:

* Conroy Walker, alias “Connie”, who escaped from the Gun Court in 2001. Walker was wanted by the police for five counts of murder and other shooting offences.

* Leroy Spencer, also called Devon, a 37 year-old labourer.

By early afternoon relatives of Spencer were making preparations to move out of the area because of alleged death threats.

The police also recovered a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol and a 9mm Maverick pistol, both containing three rounds of ammunition, at a premises nearby. Two persons have been arrested in connection with the gun find. The police believe the weapons may be the ones used in the gunfight.

According to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), at 11:25 yesterday morning both men became involved in an argument which led to guns being drawn and shots being fired. Walker’s bullet-riddled body was found lying in a pool of blood at the intersection of Daffodil Avenue and Zebra Alley, while Spencer was pronounced dead upon his arrival at the hospital. Five 9mm bullets and six spent shells were found on the scene. After searching the area, the police found the firearms in a garbage bin along Zebra Alley.

Walker was shot in the chest and abdomen, while Spencer received a gunshot wound to the centre of the back. Spencer’s spouse, Novelette Campbell, told the Observer that he was in their home helping her prepare dinner when his phone rang and he left the home. In a matter of minutes, the sound of shots rang out and her man was battling for life on the pavement.

“Me and him inside a cook the pickney them dinner. The phone ring and him say him soon come. Bout 10 minute time we hear the shot dem,” Campbell said between tear-filled sobs. The couple produced four daughters.

The bereaved woman could not say why the two men shot each other to death, as to her knowledge they were friends. Her mother, Deitha Campbell, 67, also appeared bewildered.

“Mi nuh know whe really cause this thing yah cause, the fellow whe dem say kill him, them move as friend,” the woman said as she tried to keep her composure.

However, Spencer’s sister, unable to contain her anguish, screamed that her brother told her in a telephone conversation that he was threatened.

“Him tell mi, him tell mi say them threaten fi kill him,” the woman bellowed.

Spencer’s relative were clearly fearful. An occupant of the yard told the Observer that the dead man’s relatives had received threats on their lives and were planning to leave the area quickly.

“We can’t stay. Them send come tell we say blood haffi run fi Connie, so we a try look somewhere and go,” the resident said.

Meanwhile, the police said that now that he is dead they would be increasing their efforts to apprehend his crony, 23 year-old Dale Robinson, also known as “Fungus”. Robinson is wanted for several murders and shootings by the police and was one of nine prisoners who cut their way to freedom out of the South Camp Road Rehabilitation Centre in May last year.