Jamaica: Security Council orders all-out attack on gangs

by Alicia Dunkley Willis (Jamaica Observer) Inspired by the massacre of eight Jamaicans in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon, on Sunday and the wounding of nine others in what law enforcement officials called an act of retaliation, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in declaring an “all-out assault on gangs” across the island, vowed that the “government will seize this opportunity to deal with gangs once and for all”.

The attack, carried out by men armed with high-powered rifles in a white car at 8:45 p.m., disrupted a birthday celebration that a 31-year-old bar owner was holding for her boyfriend, a 23-year-old mechanic from the area. After the shooting was over, it was discovered that multiple people had been shot. Among the victims was a seven-year-old boy, while a baby aged one year and eight months was injured.

At an emergency press conference at Jamaica House on Monday morning, following a meeting of the National Security Council, the prime minister said it had been confirmed that players from multiple gangs, including people abroad and those behind bars, played a role in what he described as “an act of terror”.

The prime minister stated that Jamaica has “played with gangs for far too long” and said: “We will not treat this as another criminal act; we will treat this as an act of terrorism. That is why we have directed the security forces to launch an all-out assault on the gangs involved.”