THE St Catherine South police are now hunting for 24-year-old Andre Martin, also called ‘Steppa’, who escaped from a police vehicle after it broke down along the Old Harbour main road on Tuesday night.

Police say Martin was shot and injured during an alleged gunfight near his home at Alvin Way in Gutters and was being transported to hospital when the police service vehicle broke down. As officers tried to effect repairs to the vehicle, Martin reportedly escaped custody and fled into nearby bushes.

The cops say they seized a Taurus handgun after the shooting.

Head of the St Catherine South police, Superintendent Terrence Bent, said Martin is now wanted for shooting with intent, illegal possession of a firearm and escaping custody.

“We are now trying to establish whether or not he is dead or alive,” Bent said.

But the incident sparked a massive demonstration by residents of Gutters on Tuesday night. Several sections of the Old Harbour and Gutters main roads along with the entrance to Alvin Way were blocked by angry protesters who demanded ‘justice’.

Between shouts of “police brutality”, the demonstrators refuted the police version of events. They claimed Martin was shot by an officer who was allegedly involved in a relationship with a woman Martin was friendly with.

The Bureau of Special Investigation is probing the incident. A number of Alvin Way residents were interviewed yesterday.

“Him shot the youth true him a deal with the woman. Steppa a nuh bad man, we never see him with no gun yet,” one woman shouted yesterday.

Another protester claimed that Martin escaped from the trunk of the police car.

“The police bwoy come back after him shot the man and say, ‘the boy pick the lock and get way, but a true mi gun stick mek him still alive’. A which lock him can pick? Must the trunk,” the resident told the Observer.

After the roadblocks were cleared the protesters moved their demonstration to a nearby gas station where they bad-mouthed police officers who were deployed on the scene to maintain calm.

One man, who was caught smoking a marijuana cigar, was arrested and charged for marijuana possession by the cops. The arrest prompted more disparaging comments from the crowd.

“A one likkle spliff unu a lock up the youth fah? Unu go look fi gunman,” one elderly woman shouted.