FLANKER, St James – Councillor Charles Sinclair (Jamaica Labour Party, Montego Bay North Eastern) is worried that the double murder that rocked Flanker last week could fan the flames of reprisal killings in the sometimes volatile inner-city community.

The two deceased, 18-year-old Omar Warren and 34-year-old Bobby Campbell, were shot dead, and two other community members shot and injured when they were sprayed with bullets by rampaging gunmen at a shop in the community.

The revenge concerns apart, the incident was also troubling for the Government senator given his successful representation for social and infrastructural developments in the once war-torn community.

“What I heard last [Thursday] night kind of break my heart, honestly. And I am having some concerns because of how it happened and I know that there is the potential for reprisal. I am saying to everybody that I spoke to this [Friday] morning, don’t encourage reprisals because we know that reprisals can bring death, not only to the combatants, it can bring death to the innocent,” he expressed.

He added that several other individuals could have been shot at the business establishment where the operator was reportedly also among those shot and injured.

“When a man can operate a shop and get shot, it just show you that violence don’t have any discrimination, people can just die or get injured seriously and it affects them,” Sinclair bemoaned.

One female resident argued that had it not been for a sudden, heavy downpour which sent residents scampering for shelter, more people would have gathered at the scene and been exposed to the danger.

Just hours before the unknown gunmen struck, the councillor was basking in the prolonged peaceful period that the area had been enjoying.

Sinclair, who has been representing the division since 2003, reflected that during his early years “we had 39 murders in one year, and we are down to some years when we had none”.

He bemoaned that the double killing have served to triple the murder tally in Flanker since the start of this year.

“As I am saying where we are coming from, what we have done, feeling ecstatic about it up to yesterday. Last night when I got the call at 10:30, I was really depressed and down, a mean heartbroken about the whole situation. I suppose we just have to look at how we go forward and to recover and be better for the community,” said a seemingly dejected Sinclair, who is also an attorney.

“Of course, there is tension sometimes between the spaces, but persons appreciate it and just try to be civil and try to enjoy themselves within their respective space instead of committing mayhem.”

The police reported that shortly after 10:00 pm a group of individuals were at a shop on Codac Drive in Flanker, when they were approached by men armed with handguns who fired shots at them.

When the shooting subsided four men were discovered with gunshot wounds.

They were taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where Campbell and Warren were pronounced dead and the two others admitted for treatment.

A senior investigator close to the case told the Jamaica Observer West on Wednesday that so far, the police have no leads in the killings.

In the meantime, Sinclair recounted “when I came to Flanker, persons would have asked why you going to Flanker?”

“I said, look here, I know people in Flanker and so forth and my father used to operate the gas station out there. So we used to have persons who visit the gas station and so forth,” he reflected.

He pointed to a number of deficiencies that he was confronted with when he started to represent the community, some of which have since been corrected.

” When I came here, you had a lot of deficiencies: you had areas that never had any road, Providence never had any road at all, Red Dirt had issues. You just have a lot of issues and you had the social issues too where persons need trading, and you needed sporting opportunities and so forth. But you know what I find with the majority of people here? They are good people, hard-working people. If you get to understand them, they are one of the most loving people that you can find,” he said.

He added, “And I call Flanker the entertainment capital of St James, whether anybody like it or not. You have a party in Flanker, people come from every community and come to Flanker.”

He pointed out that “we have worked with quite a bit of stakeholders, we worked with the residents, we work with the peace and justice centre, the churches, and we seek to improve on the infrastructure.”

“We improved massively on infrastructure in the community. We have worked on the soft aspect of things by putting in the training opportunities for the persons and so forth,” Sinclair remarked.

“And as you see at the entrance to the community, we have created an economic zone area where you have Jamaican fruits, you have ital food and we put in opportunities for people who vend craft and so forth. So it’s a one-stop shop for tourists to come there and they can get everything Jamaican.

“And then, you have the all-purpose court and you have the football field and so forth, so we have done well. Look at the football game we had the last time, I think two thousand, three thousand people were there watching the finals. It just put me in an ecstatic mood.”