A group of angry demonstrators yesterday mounted several miles of impenetrable roadblocks along the Above Rocks and Zion Hill main roads in St Catherine, to protest against last week’s police killing of area resident, Seymour Durrant.

The police say Durrant, 39, also called “Vibrations”, was among a group of armed men in Zion Hill who fired several shots at them. According to police reports, Durrant was shot in the exchange and a .38 revolver taken from his body.

But residents of Zion Hill, Above Rocks and surrounding communities have consistently refuted the police’s claim, insisting that he was murdered.

At about 5:30 yesterday morning, they took to the streets to vent their frustration.

They also apparently brought along their chain saws and felled a number of large cedar, mango, pimento, guango and bamboo trees, which they dumped across the roadway, strategically arranging them at approximately 20-foot intervals.

One man in the Parks Road area, who was visibly upset over the loss of his mango tree, complained bitterly to the Observer.

“You know how long this tree deh yah? The man dem cut down me tree sah? Boy, a tell you,” he hissed.

Not satisfied with the felled trees, the protesters reinforced sections of the blockage with old vehicles, boulders and zinc, bringing vehicular traffic to a crawl and forcing the early closure of the nearby St Mary’s College.

Several children and adults were forced to trek for miles to get to their destinations, and the majority of businesses in the area remained closed, except for a few bars.

Yesterday, the demonstrators maintained their claim that Durrant was killed in cold blood and continued to dismiss the police’s version of the incident.

The angry residents also claimed that the cops who allegedly killed Durrant, removed his body, placed a gun in his hand and fired off several rounds, so that gunpowder residue would be present when his hands were swabbed.

“Them rush and pick up him body, and when them drive round the road little bit, them stop and put a gun inna “Vibrations” hand and fire it,” said one angry woman, who did not wish to be named.

“We know, cause people see them,” she shouted.

Other residents claimed that Durrant was a left-hander and the police had erred by putting the gun in his right hand.

The protesters also alleged that Durrant had approximately $70,000 in his possession when he was killed, and that the money could not be accounted for.

“Them kill the man and rob him money too. Police a murderer and thief!” shouted another protester.

Even though many persons in the area were inconvenienced by the protest, the entire community appeared to be in solidarity with the protest, and most residents gathered in Zion Hill at the scene of last week’s shooting.

Meanwhile, a group of police officers who arrived at the scene of the demonstration received the ire of the demonstrators, who hurled abuses at them.

At press time, the roads remained blocked, and the protesters vowed to maintain the blockage until justice was served.

On March 1, 2001 the Above Rocks Police station was the scene where two teenagers, suspected to be part of the Braeton Seven and who were later gunned down by members of the now defunct Crime Management Unit, shot and killed Constable Dwight Gibson, former customs officer Dennis Betton, and shot and injured a woman.