RESIDENTS of Beeston Street in Kingston Central were awakened by loud explosions and a fire in the wee hours yesterday morning. Some 30 people have been left displaced, with nothing but the clothes on their backs after thugs reportedly entered the community about three o' clock yesterday and sprayed a section of the community with bullets shortly before firebombing the area.

One resident recalled the terrifying events, in which a relative was shot as he tried desperately to extinguish the fire and save their home.

“'Bout three o' clock mi ina mi bed and a shot fire and wi never pay it nuh mind. When wi look further, wi realise seh man jump fence come ina wi yard and light wi house afire. Everything bun out. And him still a [wait on] wi ina the yard fi even shoot wi while wi a out the fire,” the man said.

“Him shoot mi cousin, but wi have life and wi deh yah. Mi cousin lose everything. Mi aunty bun out round a di back and half a my grandmother house bun out. A just one a dem ting deh. God nah sleep. We a guh build again.”

The man said the community has been begging for peace for months, as gang violence continues to dominate with shootings happening place daily, forcing residents to live in fear.

“For the past few months, there's been on-going violence ina the community. Gang war and suh. So, it look like we just get caught ina the midst of everything,” he said.

Superintendent Maldria Jones-Williams, commanding officer for the Kingston Central Division, told the Jamaica Observer that no details on the incident could be be provided as yet.

“I cannot provide any details at this time. We are still doing our investigation,” she said yesterday.