YORK BUSH, St James — Occupants of a house in York Bush, St James, scrambled for cover and ran for their lives as gunmen sprayed their house with bullets about 10:30 on Wednesday morning. When the shooting stopped, one woman was dead and another hospitalised with a wound to her neck.

A nephew of the deceased, who jumped from a balcony and hid in bushes to elude the armed men, was later found by the police and taken to hospital to have cuts and bruises treated. Relatives and the police have confirmed that the family has a connection to one of St James’ most wanted men, Anthony Angus, who has been in custody since early October.

The dead woman, Melvalyn Cross, is said to be Angus’ mother while the wounded woman is said to be her daughter. Up to late Wednesday evening, the latter was undergoing surgery. When the Jamaica Observer visited the community, the fear was palpable.

“Everybody feel a way, people ‘fraid fi come pon the crime scene because them nuh know what is what; everybody ‘fraid,” said a woman only identified as the niece of the deceased.

Residents have theorised that Cross was targeted as the attack took place soon after she returned to the area, after a week away.

She worked as a household helper and those who knew her spoke of her love for family.

“She is a good lady, I can say that she was good lady, that’s all and she love her family,” said one woman who was among a small group of relatives that gathered near the yellow crime scene tape cordoning off the bullet-riddled house on Wednesday. Police milled about, conducting their investigations but they have not yet provided a motive for the attack.

Angus was taken into custody by members of the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigations Branch (CTOC) on October 7. He was nabbed in St Elizabeth. He was being sought as the police investigated a number of crimes in and around his community, including September’s fatal shooting of 64-year-old Henry Salmon and 56-year-old Gilbert Jackson.