Newsmaker: Horrific Clarendon massacre, 5.3 quake terrified nation

This week’s featured developments as Newsmakers of the Week are last Sunday’s cold-bloodied massacre of eight persons and wounding of nine others in Cherry Tree Lane, Four Paths, Clarendon, and Friday morning’s 5.3 magnitude earthquake that shock the country.

The nation woke up on Monday morning to the shocking news that 17 people had been indiscriminately shot, eight fatally, in a gun attack which the police have since said was linked to a longstanding feud between Jamaican criminals, and was sparked by a dispute over ill-gotten gains with roots in six previous violent incidents in Clarendon.

The attack, described as one of the deadliest in recent memory, sent shockwaves across the country.

Among the deceased were seven-year-old Aiden Bartley, a student of Four Paths Primary and Infant School, and three women, two of whom were in their 20s.

A one-year-old child was among those injured and hospitalised.

Reports are that on Sunday night, armed men travelling in a motorcar went to two social gatherings in Cherry Tree Lane in Four Paths and opened gunfire on patrons and left a trail of bloodshed in their wake.

The scene was so gruesome that it left even some law enforcers heartbroken and rattled by the obvious brutality.

A police officer seeks to calm a resident of Cherry Tree Lane in Four Paths, Clarendon last Monday in the aftermath of the brutal mass killing there the evening before.

At a press conference on Monday following a high-level meeting of the National Security Council, Prime Minister Andrew Holness described the incident as “an act of terror”.

He said directive was given to the security forces to carry out an all-out assault on the criminals involved in the brutal slaying that continued to send chills among Jamaicans across the island days later.

The crimes prompted the Government to declare a state of emergency (SOE) for the entire parish of Clarendon on Wednesday. Holness said the aim of the exercise is to deter any likely reprisal killings.

On the same day, he unveiled a $25 million anti-gang incentive for information on all the perpetrators involved in the massacre.

Amid those happenings, the security forces have been going all-out to bring those responsible to justice, and up to Thursday, six persons were in custody, two guns had been recovered, and a prime suspect re the massacre was fatally shot during a reported confrontation with the police on Wednesday.

Police identified the deceased as Steve Smith, alias ‘Thicka’ or ‘Fly Brain’, and described him as one of the suspected shooters in the Clarendon massacre.

Also, the security forces said Smith was suspected of having been involved in numerous other contract-related killings and other serious crimes in Clarendon and other parishes.

Of the six men in custody, Leighton White, otherwise ‘Bonz’, of May Pen in the parish, was detained on Thursday while reporting at the May Pen Police Station on condition of bail in relation to a previous case of shooting.

While Jamaicans on social media welcomed the news of arrests being made and at least one of the suspected shooters being fatally shot, some continued to express intense sorrow at the tragedy.

“Their (the criminals’) punishment in God’s eye won’t be easy. What can a seven-year-old child do to you by just spraying bullets all over the place?” a woman on Facebook asked in presumed disbelief.

“Can’t believe it has come to this in Jamaica! But God sits high and He looks low. Whoever is responsible for this heartless crime, your destiny is in the Lord’s hands!” another woman prophesied.

In relation to the apprehension of six suspects and the fatal shooting of another, a man commented: “Excellent job by the police.

“I hope the others meet similar demise very soon,” he added.

“Congratulations officers! We must ensure all responsible are brought in to face their own judgment in the courts,” a woman posted.

“Face the judge or meet your Maker, choose one,” said a woman as she repeated a line that was used by Prime Minister Andrew Holness on a visit to the crime scene in Clarendon.

In one of his several posts to his social media account on Monday, Holness said he was ensuring that “all the resources necessary from the state, whether financing, international cooperation, (or) legislative support, will be made available to the security forces to pursue this relentlessly.

“They must either meet the judge or meet their Maker, whichever they choose,” he declared.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness (centre), along with Acting Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey (right) and Assistant Commissioner Calvin Allen (in uniform), at Cherry Tree Lane in Four Paths, Clarendon on Monday after the mass killing of eight persons and wounding of nine others in the community the evening before.

However, on Tuesday, Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) Executive Director, Mickel Jackson, said the prime minister’s comments amounted to what she said was “state badmanness”, which could serve as encouragement for vigilante killings by incensed citizens.

She said the prime minister should, instead, focus on “solutions that promote safety without compromising the integrity of our justice system”.

In response, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), through Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Abka Fitz-Henley, described JFJ’s comments as being unfortunate, telling the lobby group to be careful that messages it conveys in the public domain do not appear to be “supportive of criminality”.

Some social media users also condemned JFJ for their criticisms of the prime minister, while others saw nothing wrong, in principle, with the organisation’s utterances.

“A wah do JFJ?… Eight people dead and a dis dem choose to talk about? This sad,” a man wrote.

“Wow, police working hard to find the suspects involved in the killing and look what JFJ has thought it fit to do, water down the severity of the killings and take on our PM. Shameful!” a woman opined.

And as the nation continues to grapple with the tragedy and the mass killings in Clarendon, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck at least sections of Jamaica on Friday, causing widespread panic, though no report of any damage.

The epicentre was located approximately 6km northeast of Golden Spring, St Andrew, and was reported as having been felt at 8:01 am.

Immediately after, social media users shared their reactions to the quake which they described as having been relatively strong.

“It was so heavy in St Thomas,” said a female Facebook user.

“Felt it in Thompson Town (Clarendon); really heavy. Take heed Jamaica. God is going to shake the world,” added another woman.

Said another: “I felt it in St Ann. I thought my windows were shattered and my TV would be smashed.

“My bed was shaking too and am upstairs, so just imagine if I was downstairs. OMG Lord, remember your people,” the woman further wrote.

Another St Ann native said: “Yes, felt it in north coast of St Ann. There was a sound as it came closer, and there was an estimated six seconds of light tremor.”

Meanwhile, a woman recounted her hilarious response to the tremor.

“Felt it in Kingston, t’was really heavy. Thought the roof was gonna come down,” she said, adding: “I ran off the toilet with the tissue in my hand straight to the verandah.”

In response, a woman said: “I was on the toilet too and felt a small tremor first and den hear the big one sounded like a big truck come down a hill, and to how the decking sound like it a go fall, I get up and ran to the doorway.”

A man warned that, “A hope this nuh mean a large one coming. A feel so enuh, so we have to just prepare Jamaica.”

The latest quake was the strongest since a 5.4 magnitude one hit Jamaica on Monday, October 30, 2023. That shaking was much stronger, with wide-scale, mostly minor damages being reported.