MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Police here say a gun attack, which left one man dead and three people injured on Sunday morning in Top Greenvale, stemmed from a domestic dispute.

Head of the Manchester police, Superintendent Shane McCalla, told the Jamaica Observer on Sunday that police are searching for a suspect who is a resident of Greenvale.

“What is happening right now is that Greenvale is one of those places, based on its history, that we have not let up on the type of security measures, but as it is right now the incident it not deemed to be linked to any gang feud or any other rivalry inside the space, it was something [resulting from] a domestic dispute, so we will continue to closely assess and deploy our assets inside the space as the intelligence dictates,” said McCalla.

“We continue to carry out our operational activities and our community relations activities in terms of intervention both by [us] and partnership with stakeholders and the community, so it is a continuous process,” added McCalla.

Police identified the murder victim as Andrade Hines, 38, otherwise called ”Claffy”, a resident of Greenvale.

Residents told the Observer that about midnight Hines was among a group of people gathered at a bar in Texas, Top Greenvale, in an area referred to as “Hundred”, when a gunman opened fire hitting four people and sending others scampering for cover.

The four injured patrons were rushed to hospital where Hines was pronounced dead and the others admitted for treatment.

The Observer was told that of the three injured people, two sustained gunshot wounds and the third person was grazed.

McCalla said the scene of the shooting was a regular hangout spot for residents.

“It wasn’t a bar, it was an abandoned shop. They just went and used it [for] whenever they have any little gathering on the lane,” he said.

The police theorise that Hines was the target of the gun attack.

“The domestic dispute would have stemmed from some argument between a woman and him [Hines] and it appears that the woman would have went to someone else who intervened and it ended up in that,” said McCalla.

Since the shooting tension and fear have resurfaced among residents of Greenvale, a community located just a mile west of the Mandeville town centre. Residents are fearful of the possibility that the shooting could lead to reprisals.

One resident suggested that divine intervention was needed to prevent further bloodshed in Greenvale.

“A peace walk cannot help. They need God!” the resident said.

Another resident suggested that the harbouring of “strangers” in Greenvale is affecting the community.

“Sometimes it is not those that live here. Sometimes you see some strange people that they take in the district and cause these problems, because you don’t know who is who and then you hear about shooting,” she said.

When asked to respond to the concerns of residents, McCalla reiterated that the shooting was not gang-related.

“It appears that it is domestic in nature, not anything having to do with any rivalry inside the space, but something domestic, so we currently have a suspect that we are pursuing and as the investigations continue, we are expecting to make further breakthroughs,” he said.

He is urging residents to find amicable ways to resolve disputes.

“[We] continuously try to plead to young people to deal with and manage their domestic problems in another way, but we realise that with the prevalence of the gun, it appears that every argument that happens they will resort to the firearm,” he said.

“We are asking residents to cooperate with the police and not to do anything to further escalate any problems inside the space. A lot of work has been done in the space and it has been relatively calm over the past few months, so we won’t let up on that. We will continue to do anything that we have to do from a security standpoint to ensure that we address the fears and concerns of the residents to ensure that the area continues to maintain that level of peace that has been in the space over the last few months,” added McCalla.