MONTEGO BAY, St James- A man was shot and a killed during a drive-by shooting on Gunns Drive in the violence-torn community of Granville, St James on Saturday.

Dead is 28-year-old Romaine Scott of a Granville address.

According to Observer Online sources, Scott’s death is linked to an ongoing gang feud in the community.

When contacted by our news team, councillor for the Granville Division, Michael Troupe shared that the incident was the third murder within the division since Thursday.

“Granville is at a critical spot as we speak, we have had three murders in three days. It is tit for tat,” he said.

Troupe also pointed out that Scott’s death marks the 15th murder in Granville since late May and, against that background, said he was renewing his call for a Zone of Special Operations in the division.

“We have 15 murders now. If this division does not qualify for a Zone of Special Operations, I don’t know what else will qualify for it because it is not 15 murders since the start of the year, it is 15 murders over a period of three months,” Troupe said.

“I am renewing my call for permanent presence of the police or give us a state of emergency for three months, but we need to get action. No more promises, we need action. The residents are scared, and they have started to move out,” he added.

The councillor is also calling for a police post to be implemented in Granville. He noted that his request for a police post in the volatile community comes amid residents’ complaints of not knowing how to contact the Meadows of Irwin police, in the case of an emergency.

“Now, we don’t have a police station because it burned down about three months ago. What I am calling for is to have a police post [be placed] in Granville. Or we can use the community centre as a base. Nobody in Granville, as we speak, know the number for the police post in [Meadows of] Irwin; not even me, the councillor, know it,” Troupe said.

Rochelle Clayton