MANCHESTER, Jamaica — A man was shot and injured by the police during an alleged confrontation in Fine Grass, north east Manchester on Saturday following a reported standoff between supporters of the two main political parties over the placing of flags.

Police said shortly after 3:00 pm, a team was called to the area where the man was reportedly in another confrontation with another man. Police said the man allegedly brandished what appeared to be a gun and was shot in the upper body. Further checks revealed that it was a wooden imitation gun.
He was taken to hospital where has been admitted. Police said his injuries are not considered to be life-threatening.

However, a relative of the injured man is challenging the police’s version of events and said the issue stemmed from the man not wanting orange flags placed on a private post.

“This morning we were out here and saw some PNP [People’s National Party] man putting up some flags and we said ‘don’t put none out a we gate’ and they start act up and they called Mr Wint and when he came he said ‘don’t put none out here’. They left,” said a woman who identified herself as the injured man’s sister.

She then claimed that PNP supporters returned with a ladder.

“My brother said ‘uno really come back here to make problem’ and they start dipping into their bag and me bredda run go uppa the house and come back… when we look we see the police drive in then [a businessman] drove in behind them. They don’t ask me bredda no questions them went up to him and shot him. Another police held a M16 on my son and my son hold up his hand and said he don’t have anything,” the woman claimed.

“The [businessman] drape me other son box him and pull him gun on him and say me fi step back,” she said.

She accused the police of being corrupt.

“… Because police no suppose to be there a shot man and him as a licensed firearm holder here a draw gun on people. Something is wrong,” she said.

When contacted, MP aspirant for Manchester North East, the PNP’s Valenton ‘Val’ Wint confirmed that he spoke with residents and instructed supporters not to place flags at the location which is at the centre of the contention.

“I told my guys not to put any there if they [residents] don’t want it, so they left. After they left I said to the resident there if you don’t want it [flag] there you can take it down. A flag doesn’t really mean much to me and they said to me ‘no Mr Wint me want to have your flag there too on the other side’ and I left,” Wint said.

“I heard there was an incident there, but it wasn’t related to what I did in the morning…. I spoke to the police and they said there was a [confrontation] and a resident was shot. I am really sorry to hear,” he added.

Wint condemned acts of political violence.

“We have to be very careful now and responsible, because if we dub it political then it is going to escalate into political violence, so myself and Miss (Audrey) Marks just had a conversation a while ago and we said it is a police matter let the police deal with it,” he said.

“As it relates to talking to our persons about not removing anybody’s things and if somebody say don’t put it there leave it at that. We agreed on that,” he added.

Said Wint: “We don’t need violence in north east Manchester, it doesn’t help us one way or the other. We don’t want our people to be attacking each other, because that would be total foolishness”.

Marks, who is the Jamaica Labour Party’s aspirant in the constituency confirmed that she spoke to Wint and claimed that the police shooting and the political stand-off over the placing of flags were unrelated.

“The initial call that I got gave the impression that it was a political matter between the two political sides over flags, but on that basis I called Mr Wint to say that we are aware of the situation and we agree that we will do everything in our power to de escalate any political tension among our supporters,” Marks said.

“I called to get the police report and I realised there is no link between the two incidents of the shooting and the scuffle that might have happened earlier between political supporters of where to place signs and flags. The two are unrelated,” Marks claimed.

— Kasey Williams