Police and soldiers returned some level of normality to Spanish Town late Tuesday night through to Wednesday after three people were shot dead and others injured in what the cops report is a bitter feud that has split the violent One Order gang.

But even with the increased presence of the security forces and the imposition of a curfew, some residents and vendors remained uneasy and expressed fear that there could be reprisal killings in the old capital where old motor vehicle tyres, wooden pallets, and other debris were used by residents to block some streets.

The mayhem that ensued on Tuesday afternoon was described by Prime Minister Andrew Holness as a “national emergency” on which the Government must act.

“We have to act to protect the innocent, law-abiding citizens,” Holness said at a Disaster Risk Management meeting on Wednesday.

“Someone called me there, crying that they are living in fear that gunmen are going to drive in and shoot up their community, and so they have to take things in their own hands and block all the roads in the community,” he said.

One of the three men gunned down in the busy and populated market district was identified as a gangster known only as Mackerel. The gun battle sent shoppers, vendors, and commuters scampering, while business operators closed their shops.

In response, the police imposed a two-day curfew that encompassed Tawes Pen, Job Lane, John’s Road, Cumberland Road, French Street, Rum Lane, and Chambers Lane.

The police have said that those areas are being plagued by conflicts within the One Order gang which have resulted in murders and shootings, including a quadruple killing in the Railway Lane area, close to Tawes Pen, last week.

While some vendors returned to Cumberland Road, close to the Spanish Town Market, many wholesale and business establishments were closed on Wednesday.

Howard Chambers, commanding officer for the St Catherine North Police Division, told the Jamaica Observer that vendors coming out less than 24 hours after the deadly assault by thugs was a good sign.

“I’m happy about the partnership, especially with the market vendors. Them coming out today again is a good feeling, and we will continue to have some increased presence in and around the Cumberland area and the market district,” Chambers said.

While police and soldiers maintained foot and mobile patrols in the affected areas, one senior cop, who spoke to the Observer on Wellington Street, said he was confident that the operation will restore calm.

Another policeman said the plan wasn’t to “tighten” the space so that “people can’t move about their own business”; however, the curfew will be elevated if necessary.

Meanwhile, Chambers indicated that movement is being restricted at nights.

“When it reaches the night, we are going to kinda turn up the volume a little more with a more rigid-like set-up and a ground commander that they [residents] have to seek permission from to go in and out during the nights,” Chambers explained.

On Cumberland Lane, a shopkeeper told the Observer that he had reopened his business because of the police presence.

“The police dem pass here two times already from morning, so no shooting nah gwan today. That is why some people out here,” the man said at 9:24 am.

A vendor standing beside him added, “From police in the streets, nobody not going to expect that any shooting will happen again. The criminals might brazen, but mi nuh believe that them fool at all. Those of us who have to sell are out here taking the chance because we know that the police and soldiers are patrolling. It’s probably just the shoppers who fraid fi come out.”

The One Order gang, which has historically feuded with the Klansman gang, is headquartered in the Tawes Pen community and exercises control over the Ellerslie Pen, Dempshire Pen, Gordon Pen, Shelter Rock, Homestead, and Chambers Lane communities.

Roads at Chambers and Railway lanes were blocked by residents to prevent vehicles from entering with gunmen to carry out reprisals.

Some lawmen said they cleared some of the roads early Wednesday morning and weren’t met with any opposition.

An elderly woman who spoke to the Observer described the situation as “mournful”.

“Mi fraid. Mi nuh want fi deh pon dem road here, but a food me a look and all of the wholesale dem lock up. Mi just a hurry up get some things fi go back in,” she said.

A fruit vendor on Rum Lane scolded operators of wholesale stores for giving into fear.

“If a man kill today, him nah come tomorrow. Him a go space himself because him a nuh idiot. Him a go space himself, so mi nah stay home every day and suffer. The wholesale dem weh lock, a dem wah lock. Dem a spread fear and a make the people dem fraid,” he lamented.