Stephanie Elliott, Gleaner WriterMAY PEN, Clarendon:
THREE MURDERS in less than 24 hours have paralysed Clarendonians with fear as rivalling gangs and extortion activities have again reared their ugly head. Residents fear that business persons have been targeted, while the police complains of the constraints imposed on them in tackling crime.
On May 21, 23-year old Kerry Dean Buck of Palmers Cross, Clarendon, was gunned down by unknown assailants at a barber shop.
According to police reports, some time after 7:00 p.m. Buck was standing at the side of the business place, when men armed with high-powered weapons entered the premises and opened fire, hitting him several times, killing him on the spot.
Investigators from the Clarendon Homicide Unit said that no motive was established for that murder. However, sources told The Gleaner that the deceased was "no saint" as he was responsible for several crimes committed in the parish.
PART OF A GANG
A source from the community disclosed that Buck was believed to have been part of a gang that operates in May Pen and other areas. According to the source, this gang was possibly responsible for several extortion attempts on business persons in the parish.
On May 22, the brutal murder of a Clarendon businessman reignited the spark of the dreaded extortion by criminal elements in the parish.
Building contractor Hopeton Wallace of Rock district, Clarendon, was gunned down by men, who also robbed him of his licensed firearm and $80,000 in cash, among other items.
The official report on the matter indicates that Wallace was at a construction site on Ivy Avenue, Mineral Heights, when three armed men approached him and demanded cash. Prior to their escape, the gunmen recognised that he had a firearm and took it from him, but not before pumping several shots into his body. He was pronounced dead at hospital.
While the threat of extortion activities emerges from several quarters across the parish, Superintendent of Police in Clarendon, Derrick 'Cowboy' Knight, said that this was so despite their best efforts.
Speaking about Mr Wallace's murder, Mr. Knight said that investigations are being conducted into the allegations that his killers had gone there to collect extortion money.
Acknowledging that it is a known practice for unscrupulous individuals to target construction sites and their employees to carry out this practice, Mr. Knight stressed that the perpetrators are able to escape the law because victims of such attempts refuse to provide the police with information and evidence necessary to put extortionists behind bars. "We are investigating the reports we are receiving but persons are not coming forward, even after the alleged extortionists have been identified," said Supt. Knight.
