Fallout between relatives leaves community tense from deadly violence
Published:Thursday | September 25, 2025 | 12:12 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Life-saving blood was yesterday being sought for one of two men who were shot and injured after marauding gunmen opened heavy fire on patrons inside a bar at the Galloway and Mission roads intersection in St Andrew on Monday night.
Both roadways run off Waltham Park Road in Whitfield Town.
The police stated that on arrival at the scene some time after 10 p.m., shell casings of a high-powered AK-47 weapon and 9mm handguns littered the bloody scene.
The Gleaner understands that when the smoke cleared, two men were found suffering from gunshot wounds.
“Right now the doctors a try save the foot, ‘cause shot burst a vital vein. Him in and out of operation room. The other one get release from hospital yesterday,” a relative of one of the injured men told The Gleaner on Wednesday.
The Gleaner understands that at the centre of the current tension is a fallout between relatives, one of whom is reportedly behind bars.
“Everybody know everybody. They were all friends, but you know [how] it go when man stop take talk and start do dem own things. We nuh want it (war) here. The place a go lock down and a back-to-school time,” a resident said.
The police are reportedly keeping a close watch on the area.
PREVIOUS INCIDENT
Residents said they could not help but remember another occasion when a double killing and shooting took place at the same location.
“Right deh so always a get shoot up. Is like every three to four years there is war, and here so always get it,” the resident said.
The incident recalled by the residents involved the murder of 51-year-old Julian Stephenson and 28-year-old Kajaheen Watson, who died in separate shootings hours apart on November 26, 2021.
The Hunts Bay Police reported on those incidents saying that about 11 a.m., loud explosions were heard and Stephenson was later found suffering from gunshot wounds along Galloway Road.
Later that same day, around 7:40 p.m., Watson was standing at the entrance to the same bar at the Galloway and Mission roads intersection when he was pounced upon by a gunman.
He was shot multiple times and was later pronounced dead.
Another man was also shot during that incident.
The residents said that as soon as they move on from one incident, they are left to deal with more gun attacks.
FRESH TROUBLE
One of the resident told The Gleaner that fresh trouble began brewing after an illegal gun that was hidden in an old car was removed from the community during an official clean-up by the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).
“From the argument that the gun was in the old car weh KSAMC tek weh and who should replace it, ‘til a yute get murder further down the road over it. And then talk start make and the youth dem start fight against dem one another. It lead to the shooting Monday. What next?” an elderly resident told The Gleaner.
The police said the double shooting was being actively investigated.
The Gleaner understands that stricter security measures are now being employed by the police on the ground.
“From 7 o’clock you see dem start drive around and flash the blue light and tell people to come off the road,” a resident told the newspaper.
The St Andrew South Police Division is leading all 18 other police divisions in the category of murder and shootings.
As at September 20, a total of 67 shootings have led to 59 murders.
Murders and shootings, however, have declined year-on-year by 21 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.