It is evening in the quiet community of Kitson Town, St Catherine. A girl, 13, with her pink school bag and blue ribbons, hurries home from school.

The teenager, on reaching a section of a dirt lane that leads to her house, spots a pool of blood and pauses before turning away in disgust. The child speeds up, and at one point starting to run.

A brown mongrel dog, inspecting the blood-stained area the girl tried to ignore, darts away in fright because of her sudden movement.

Residents say the blood-marked spot is where Terry Bonner, 22, a young man from the community, was shot dead last week by police in an alleged shoot out.

“Bonner and a group of men who are from an emerging gang called ‘Young Blood’ had engaged police in a shoot out in the community,” police from the Guanaboa Vale police station, less than a mile away, tell the Sunday Observer.

Cops say they returned the fire and when the smoke cleared, Bonner was found suffering from gunshot wounds. He succumbed to his injuries at hospital, police report.

Residents have, however, refuted the claim and in a mad rage, hours after the fatal shooting, set ablaze a police service vehicle which had visited the area. The raging flames which quickly engulfed the squad car created a thick black cloud of smoke that hung menacingly over the farming community and is just one indicator of the problems that have crept into this tightly-knit farming community in recent months.

“For some time now the police have been having problems with this gang as they are known to be behind a number of crimes in the area,” the police say.

Lawmen also say that apart from that problem, the issue of car theft was growing out of control in the town.

Some residents have blamed the migration of criminals from other parishes for the problem.

“All my life I live here and we never use to have no trouble,” says one farmer, identifying himself only as Toney. Toney is the spokesperson for the group of farmers gathered together, speaking in hushed tones about the incident.

“Nothing more than the criminals dem from town a full up the place and a influence all the youth dem in the area,” adds Mildred Smith, a female farmer in the group.

Byron Hibbert, a former councillor for the area, agrees.

“The young people here, because many of them are unemployed, are easily led and something has to be done,” he says.

Superintendent Arthur Neil of the St Catherine North police division believes there may be some truth to the arguments of the farmers. The senior cop said that one area where evidence of this is seen was in the car-stealing operation which was now rampant in the town.

“The police, in recent times, have stepped up their presence in the area and are keeping close watch on the community but continue to face many challenges such as the car-stealing ring,” he says.

As he speaks, a group of heavily armed police officers cordon off a section of the community and begin to question some women at a small shop in the area.

“The man dem [the authorities] a step up dem operation inna town and then you find say di man dem [criminals] a run weh come a country and a make things bad fi we,” says a visibly upset Toney.

Cops from the Guanaboa Vale station say that not only do they have their hands full with the illegal car operation but it was difficult for them to keep pace with criminals.

“Since the start of the year police have received numerous calls about stolen motor vehicles but we cannot respond to all of them,” says an officer who speaks to the Sunday Observer on condition of anonymity.

He said that in the past three weeks, they have received about five reports about stolen vehicles and that the station is now without a service vehicle, following the torching incident, only compounds the problem.

As the officer spoke, he paused to stare over to the station yard which was filled with scrapped car parts.

The Guanaboa Vale police serve some 51 communities in that section of the St Catherine North police division.