SPANISH Town wore the facade of normalcy on Sunday after last week’s flare-up in the violence-ridden old capital, which saw seven persons being shot and killed.

Mothers helped daughters with their lessons, bare-chested children played and men played dominoes in the Tawes and Ellerslie Pen areas, while nearby Chambers Lane was blocked with rocks and other debris.

At the municipal bus park, ‘taxi loaders’ and drivers went about their usual hustle of transporting commuters to destinations outside the town.

But, even though the area was quiet – meaning that there were no gunshots or gangs clashing – the look on the faces of those persons who ventured out on the streets was one of anxiety.

And the police were taking no chances.

“It is relatively calm today, but we cannot rest as the violence can break out at any time,” a police constable told the Observer on Sunday.

The latest victim of the violence plaguing the old capital was Brunswick Avenue resident Dean Wallace, 28.

Police said residents discovered Wallace’s bullet-riddled body in his house Sunday morning. The residents had reported hearing gunshots at about 10:00 pm Saturday.

His death followed the Saturday morning invasion of the Banana Lane area of Lakes Pen by gunmen who shot 40 year-old Olive Christie. Christie was at home with her family when the gunmen kicked off her door and dragged her from the building before pumping several shots into her, killing her on the spot.

The other victims of murder were:

– Pauline ‘Sandra’ Smith, 38 from New Nursery;

– Anthony Crawford of Thompson Pen, killed Friday; and

– Kirk Gordon, 18, of Central Village, and Stanley Griffiths, 36, of Christian Pen, killed Thursday.

The police say Crawford’s death was the result of an ongoing gang feud.

“People have information and we are asking them to do the right thing and come forward,” one cop said Sunday night.

Meanwhile, the police reported over the weekend that two men, Deon Casey of Dela Vega City and Phillip Vixamar of Chester Avenue, Spanish Town, have been missing since last month.

Vixamar was last seen on February 8 wearing a red T-shirt, dark-coloured shorts and a pair of brown slippers.

Casey, the police said, left his home on February 24 and has not been seen or heard from since. He is of dark complexion and about five feet eight inches tall.

– walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com