Chaos on Hagley Park Road after fatal police shooting
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Chaos erupted in a section of Hagley Park Road in St Andrew this morning as residents of York Street protest against the fatal shooting of a man, whom they claim was taken from his home and brutally killed by the police.
According to the fuming residents, who blocked Hagley Park Road with debris, the police pulled five men from their homes and killed Omar Mahoney, also known as ‘Breezie’.
“Yesterday 4 o’ clock the police dem come over here come tek out the boy outta him bed and shoot the boy,” one woman claimed.
“The police them a link with the man dem over Mahoe Drive (another section of the community) and come over here come kill off the boy them innocently,” she added.
“Them kill mi friend and have him pon the ground a draw,” said another angry woman, who claimed that Breezie’s body was handled violently by police.
The residents set several large objects ablaze, preventing some vehicles from passing, as scores of them shouted for justice for the allegedly “innocent man”.
Police struggled to keep the vicinity clear to allow motorists to travel freely, at one time pulling guns threateningly on the stubborn crowd which initially refused to comply with the law.
Commander for the St Andrew South division, Gary Francis, refutes the allegations by the residents, saying the man’s death was due to a shoot-out.
The residents, meanwhile, have called on the People’s National Party to have Angela Brown Burke removed as the party’s choice for the area, claiming that she has not responded to concerns of residents concerning crime and violence.
They vowed to start supporting the Jamaica Labour Party, and even started to paint ‘JLP’ on walls in green.
Trudi-Ann Cunningham