A long-running feud involving thugs from ‘Ackee Walk’ and ‘Common’ is believed to be behind the shooting of four men, including political commentator and talk show host Mark Wignall, in two incidents in the St Andrew North Police Division yesterday morning.

In the first incident, which occurred shortly after 7:00 am, men drove past the Molynes Road entrance to Ackee Walk and fired several shots at a group of people. One man was hit in the leg.

Less than 30 minutes later, men in a car opened fire at individuals in front of a bar on Red Hills Roads, close to the entrance of Common, hitting Wignall and two others.

Wignall, who received a flesh wound, was able to drive the two injured men to hospital where they were admitted in stable condition.

When the Jamaica Observer visited Ackee Walk yesterday, residents pointed to the February shooting of eight people in a drive-by at the entrance to the community.

At that time, 33-year-old Omar Morris, 45-year-old bus driver Evroy Hibbert, and 18-year-old Adonis Hibbert were fatally shot while five others were left nursing gunshot wounds after they were fired on by men travelling in two cars.

“Ackee Walk under attack from two sides and the police not doing anything about it,” said one resident, who claimed that in addition to attacks from thugs from Common, gunmen from another near-by community were targeting them.

While the police were headed to Ackee Walk yesterday, news broke of the drive–by shooting near the entrance of Common.

When the Observer arrived, residents confirmed that Wignall, newspaper columnist and host of a call-in show on Nationwide News Network, a man identified only as Mark, and an unidentified man had been shot.

According to the residents, the three were standing outside a bar when men travelling in a car opened fire at them.

Bullet holes on the walls of buildings for over 50 metres told the tale of the indiscriminate firing of the men, while spent shells from high-powered weapons dotted the street.

“Mi did a set up mi stall and mi have this piece of yam in mi hand when mi hear pure shot and me just run,” said a vendor who operates a food stall in the vicinity where the shots were fired.

“Mi don’t even know what happened, mi just run,” the vendor added.

The area off Red Hills Road known as Common is bordered by Donmair Drive, Christopher Boulevard and a section of the Sandy Gully, while Ackee Walk is located close to the bridge on Molynes Road in the vicinity of Queensbury.

Gangsters from the two communities have long been allies, but they fell out last year over the proceeds of a lucrative extortion racket at the bus and taxi stand in the Chancery Street area. Since then, there have been a number of violent incidents in the area.