Three shot dead in Albion Lane, Canterbury

MARK CUMMINGS, Senior staff reporter cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Commanding officer for St James Steve McGregor speaks to residents of Albion Lane shortly after the flare-up of violence in the area yesterday. (Photo: Mark Cummings)

MONTEGO BAY, St James - An elderly man was among three people shot dead yesterday morning as the bloodletting continued in the volatile St James communities of Albion Lane and Canterbury.

The old man, identified only as 'Lloydie', said to be about 75, of Albion Lane, was shot in retaliation for the murder of 56-year-old shopkeeper Byron Jackson in Canterbury less than an hour before. The gunmen also turned their weapons on Obrian Morris, a 28-year-old resident of Albion Lane.

The police reported that about 10:30 am they received calls that shots were being fired in the Albion Lane and Canterbury communities, but encountered gunfire when they entered the communities.

"We had to get some support from the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) and other members of the police force, and after some analysis we found out that there was some cross-shooting taking place between men from Canterbury and men from Albion Lane.," said Steve McGregor, the commanding officer for the St James Division. "We understand that it is a long ongoing feud that is taking place between these factions."

According to the police, the shooting began shortly after 10:00 am when gunmen went into Jackson's grocery store in Canterbury and ordered macaroni.

"When he was about to serve them, the gunmen sprayed him with bullets and fled the area," said an investigator.
Several residents from Albion Lane, who spoke to the Observer on condition of anonymity, claimed that after Jackson was killed, gunmen from Canterbury invaded their community.

"Dem come down here asking who kill Mr Jackson and dem tear off a gate and shot the old man (Lloydie) who was sitting under the house eating," a resident said.

She said the gunmen then ordered Morris, who was also having a meal, out of the house and shot him to death.
"Den them run off," the resident added.
For more than two decades, residents of Albion Lane and Canterbury have been at odds.

It is believed that the bad blood between the two neighbouring communities, which lack several basic social amenities, has resulted in more than 20 deaths in the last two years.

Just over a week ago, Lionel Coote, a 19-year-old game shop operator of Albion Lane, was shot dead in the community about 2:00 pm.

Yesterday, residents of Canterbury blamed the other side for the violence. "The war can't stop until the people from Albion Lane stop terrorising us," said a grieving woman from Canterbury.

She said Jackson was a good man and should not have died in that manner.

Jackson's daughter, Karen, who arrived on the scene shortly after her father was slain, agreed.
"It won't done, it won't done...," she sobbed.