Residents of Trench Town said they cowered in fear Wednesday night during an attack by gunmen who sprayed homes on 8th Street with automatic weapons in what the police said is a gang war for turf in the South St Andrew community.

The attack, which residents said lasted for a few hours, has sparked calls from the frightened residents for the police to act decisively against the gunmen.

“We tired a dis now, too long man,” said a mother of three. “From night till day all we can hear a di gun; mi fed up now.”

The woman said that she and her children would be moving out of the area, a People’s National Party stronghold, as soon as possible.

Another described the ordeal: “Mi affi come off a mi bed, me and mi daughter, an’ lay down pon de floor; a pure gunshot,” she said, pointing to a section of a house damaged by the bullets.

An unconfirmed report said that one man was injured in the attack, which Superintendent Delroy Hewitt of the Denham Town Police Station linked to a lingering feud in the adjacent communities of Jones Town and Arnett Gardens.

“The community came under gunfire last night after being invaded by men bearing arms,” Hewitt said yesterday. “One man was said to be injured. It is believed that this act is related to the prevailing situation in Jones Town.”

A senior cop at the Trench Town Police Station who opted not to be named, told the Observer: “The problem is that there is a war over turf in these areas, separate and apart from the one over in Jones Town and other areas.”

The cop said that the police had difficulty moving freely within the community because the roads are blocked with debris, and each time they are cleared by the police, “the people block them again to keep the police out when they have their thing doing”.

The cop gave Hannah Town as an example, saying that that community had experienced its share of violence in the recent past, and some roads there are still blocked. “However, the National Works Agency is busy trying to remove debris from the roads there,” said the cop.

Yesterday, some residents said that although they were dissatisfied with the police’s efforts, they were willing to help in whatever way to stop the bloodletting.

Although the authorities said that additional police, from the Mobile Reserve and the Motorised Patrol Division, have been deployed to the area, gunfire could be heard in the community yesterday evening.

– clarkep@jamaicaobserver.com