WESTERN BUREAU – Two men were yesterday shot dead and four others shot and injured by a gunman who went on a shooting spree in the usually quiet community of Barbican, located on the outskirts of Sandy Bay, Hanover.

The shootings took place on the premises of Nubian Construction Ltd, a large construction entity, and Island Concrete, a nearby concrete manufacturing firm, shortly after 1:30 in the morning.

Desroy Simms, 43, a carpenter of Falmouth, Trelawny and Alberto Dundee, a 42 year-old watchman, said to be a Haitian national, died in the gunfire.

Up to late yesterday, the names of the injured had not been released by the police.

The police reported that workers at the Nubian Construction residential camp saw fire coming from a building on the compound of the construction site and left their living quarters to put out the flames. While they were extinguishing the fire, the police said, the workers were greeted with a barrage of gunshots.

The armed man, reportedly dressed in a dark blue denim overall and bulletproof vest, then went to the barracks and opened fire hitting five persons, before firing on Dundee who was on duty at the adjoining premises.

When the shooting stopped Dundee and Simms were found dead, while the injured were taken to hospital in serious, but stable conditions.

Several 9mm spent shells were taken from the scene, the police said.

The Nubian residential camp houses 19 workers, mainly supervisors and foremen who live far distances from the company’s worksites located in St James and Hanover.

The premises also serve as a workshop and storage facility for materials.

Yesterday, scores of area residents, as well as some from the adjoining fishing village of Sandy Bay, converged on the property to vent their disgust at the shooting.

“Me really sorry fi hear ’bout what happen and we want the killers to be brought to justice,” one obviously outraged resident said.

But even as the residents mourned the killings, some accused workers living on the property of contributing to a number of criminal activities in the area, particularly over the last few weeks.

“Some of the workmen dem are from Kingston and since dem start working down here, nuff crime start to happen,” an elderly resident said.

The resident pointed to last month’s killing of minibus operator Christopher “Scooby Doo” Brissett whose bullet-riddled body was found in his bus in the Barbican area and the disappearance of 16 year-old Nickesha Lindo, who is believed to have been with Brissett up to the time of his death.

But, the management of the company and workers have denied the charge.

“We are not involved in any crime down here, boss; we come down here to work money,” one of the construction workers said.

At the same time, director of the company Lenworth Kelly said, based on his knowledge, the persons living at the camp are tradesmen who hail from various parts of the island.

“Less than 10 per cent of the persons who live at the site are from Kingston,” Kelly said, in a press statement late yesterday.

He also condemned the shooting and promised to improve security at the camp.

Meanwhile, workers at the company stayed off the job yesterday to protest against the shootings.

“Everybody down here sad ’bout it and we not even a go a work (today) yesterday,” a teary-eyed Thomas Edwards said.

He was among the group of workers who had ventured outside to extinguish the fire that was seen coming from a building on the property.

Edwards told the Observer that when the gunman started to fire at them, he hid himself under a stack of boards.

He said he did not have any idea what was the motive for the shooting incident, although some residents of the community said it was in retaliation for Brissett’s death.

Assistant commissioner of police Charles Scarlett, who yesterday visited the scene of the shootings, said no motive had been established for the incident.

He said the police would use the resources at their disposal to bring the killers to justice.

“We are, like the society, outraged by this dastardly act, and we will use every resource at our command to investigate and bring to justice those who are responsible,” ACP Scarlett said.

He also appealed to persons who might have information on the incident to give it to the police.

– cummingsm@jamaiacobserver.com