KINGSTON, Jamaica – Residents of Donmair Close in Kingston 19, where nine people were shot, one fatally on Saturday, said the community is not at war.

The residents revealed that the shooting had nothing to do with anyone from the area.

Sanjay Cousins, 32, an unemployed resident of Ambrook Lane in Kingston 10, died after being shot in the head, chest and both hands. The other eight people were admitted.

But residents tell OBSERVER ONLINE that Cousins was the intended target of the gunmen and not the others.

They say Cousins fled Ambrook Lane because he and men from that community were at war. They say he recently began staying in Donmair.

“The man dem who him a war wid hear say a Donmair him deh, and come for him,” one resident told OBSERVER ONLINE, “So a come dem come for him. We not in any war.”

The resident said the other people were doing their regular Friday night gambling but turned out to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“A mostly big man and big woman did deh deh,” the resident said.

Five of the injured people are over 45 years old. Three of the victims are women, one of who is just 17 years.

Efforts to speak to Senior Superintendent Aaron Fletcher, the commanding officer for the St Andrew North Police Division, have so far proven futile.

It was reported that about 12:20 pm, the nine were among a group of people gambling at the premises when they were accosted by gunmen who opened fire.

When the shooting ended and the gunmen fled, it was discovered that the nine were injured. They were rushed to hospital where Cousins was pronounced dead.