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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 14pt">Heroes Day massacre</span></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Four shot dead, four injured at Kingston gaming lounge</span>
BY KARYL WALKER Crime/court co-ordinator [email protected]
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
FOUR men were early yesterday morning shot dead and four others injured when a Jamaica Defence Force soldier allegedly opened fire inside the crowded Double Diamond Gaming Lounge in Kingston.
Relatives of slain music selector 19-year-old Dijan Powell, one of the four killed at the Double Diamond Gaming Lounge in Kingston yesterday morning, mourn his passing.
Eyewitnesses said several patrons who were attending a party screamed for help while others pushed their way to safety as gunshots rang out at the gaming lounge, located at the Boulevard Shopping Centre on Washington Boulevard in Kingston.
When the shooting ended, 19-year-old Dijan Powell of a Greendale Avenue address; William Wilberforce, 28, of Duhaney Park; Davian Kerr, 19, and Lynchmore Forbes, both of Pembroke Hall all lay in pools of blood - DEAD.
Eyewitnesses said the soldier, who is the holder of a licensed firearm, allegedly started shooting after he was confronted by Wilberforce and Forbes who were upset that he was dancing with a woman with whom they were friends. This, the witnesses claimed, was after the soldier was involved in a stand-off with men from the tough community known as 'Sherlock' in nearby Duhaney Park.
Wilberforce, the witnesses claimed, reached into his waist for a knife, turning the early morning entertainment into a nightmare.
A large crowd converges outside the gate of the Boulevard Shopping Centre in Kingston hours after the killings. (Photos: Michael Gordon)
"Him (soldier) just pop it off and done the one who name Willy. The next youth (Forbes) run off and drop and him shoot him to. <span style="font-weight: bold">Is only in the movies me see man handle gun so.</span> The first one get more than a dozen shot," a man who said he witnessed the massacre told the Observer.
But the terror had just begun as patrons, who had huddled underneath a pool table, said they were scared out of their wits when the soldier reloaded his weapon and pointed the nozzle underneath the table and ordered them to get out.
"Him start ask people fi declare themselves before him go inside the music room and shoot the little youths. Him and them never have nothing, him kill them because them was bigging up the man them from Sherlock," one woman said.
Police say the party was organised by a promoter from Sherlock.
"Him just go in there and ask them 'how unnu just a big up pure Sherlock man from night so?' before him put it pon dem, too. The little youth (Davian Kerr), just drop right deh so and dead pan the spot," said one woman, still dressed in her party outfit after seven in the morning.
The eyewitnesses said the soldier then went back to Wilberforce, who was lying in a crumpled heap, and shot him once more in the head.
"Him walk over him and say 'you go on like you a bad man all the while' and shot him inna him head although him done dead already," another man said.
The soldier then shot himself twice, the still shell-shocked partygoers claimed.
The police, who were quick on the scene, relieved the soldier of his weapon as he exited the club but before he could be taken to hospital an army vehicle drove up and whisked him away.
As news of the shooting spread, a crowd, including relatives and friends of the deceased, began to swell on the outskirts of the plaza.
Yesterday, relatives of the dead men expressed fears that the soldier may go unpunished.
"Him can't make no claim bout any shoot-out because a one gun them find and nobody never get fi leave the club before the police come. We know say the army a go want cover up things fi him but it nah go so," said one man.
The suggestion that the matter would be covered up by the army was, however, dismissed by its spokeswoman, Major Charlene Steer.
Major Steer said the incident was a police matter and promised that the army would be cooperating with the constabulary in their investigation as well as conducting its own probe into the incident.
A police source told the Observer that only one kind of 9mm spent shells was found inside the club.
"It is at a very early stage, but so far only one type of shell casing has been found at the scene," the cop said.
The police have since appealed to persons who witnessed the incident to come forward with information so they can speed up the investigation.</div></div>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Four shot dead, four injured at Kingston gaming lounge</span>
BY KARYL WALKER Crime/court co-ordinator [email protected]
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
FOUR men were early yesterday morning shot dead and four others injured when a Jamaica Defence Force soldier allegedly opened fire inside the crowded Double Diamond Gaming Lounge in Kingston.
Relatives of slain music selector 19-year-old Dijan Powell, one of the four killed at the Double Diamond Gaming Lounge in Kingston yesterday morning, mourn his passing.
Eyewitnesses said several patrons who were attending a party screamed for help while others pushed their way to safety as gunshots rang out at the gaming lounge, located at the Boulevard Shopping Centre on Washington Boulevard in Kingston.
When the shooting ended, 19-year-old Dijan Powell of a Greendale Avenue address; William Wilberforce, 28, of Duhaney Park; Davian Kerr, 19, and Lynchmore Forbes, both of Pembroke Hall all lay in pools of blood - DEAD.
Eyewitnesses said the soldier, who is the holder of a licensed firearm, allegedly started shooting after he was confronted by Wilberforce and Forbes who were upset that he was dancing with a woman with whom they were friends. This, the witnesses claimed, was after the soldier was involved in a stand-off with men from the tough community known as 'Sherlock' in nearby Duhaney Park.
Wilberforce, the witnesses claimed, reached into his waist for a knife, turning the early morning entertainment into a nightmare.
A large crowd converges outside the gate of the Boulevard Shopping Centre in Kingston hours after the killings. (Photos: Michael Gordon)
"Him (soldier) just pop it off and done the one who name Willy. The next youth (Forbes) run off and drop and him shoot him to. <span style="font-weight: bold">Is only in the movies me see man handle gun so.</span> The first one get more than a dozen shot," a man who said he witnessed the massacre told the Observer.
But the terror had just begun as patrons, who had huddled underneath a pool table, said they were scared out of their wits when the soldier reloaded his weapon and pointed the nozzle underneath the table and ordered them to get out.
"Him start ask people fi declare themselves before him go inside the music room and shoot the little youths. Him and them never have nothing, him kill them because them was bigging up the man them from Sherlock," one woman said.
Police say the party was organised by a promoter from Sherlock.
"Him just go in there and ask them 'how unnu just a big up pure Sherlock man from night so?' before him put it pon dem, too. The little youth (Davian Kerr), just drop right deh so and dead pan the spot," said one woman, still dressed in her party outfit after seven in the morning.
The eyewitnesses said the soldier then went back to Wilberforce, who was lying in a crumpled heap, and shot him once more in the head.
"Him walk over him and say 'you go on like you a bad man all the while' and shot him inna him head although him done dead already," another man said.
The soldier then shot himself twice, the still shell-shocked partygoers claimed.
The police, who were quick on the scene, relieved the soldier of his weapon as he exited the club but before he could be taken to hospital an army vehicle drove up and whisked him away.
As news of the shooting spread, a crowd, including relatives and friends of the deceased, began to swell on the outskirts of the plaza.
Yesterday, relatives of the dead men expressed fears that the soldier may go unpunished.
"Him can't make no claim bout any shoot-out because a one gun them find and nobody never get fi leave the club before the police come. We know say the army a go want cover up things fi him but it nah go so," said one man.
The suggestion that the matter would be covered up by the army was, however, dismissed by its spokeswoman, Major Charlene Steer.
Major Steer said the incident was a police matter and promised that the army would be cooperating with the constabulary in their investigation as well as conducting its own probe into the incident.
A police source told the Observer that only one kind of 9mm spent shells was found inside the club.
"It is at a very early stage, but so far only one type of shell casing has been found at the scene," the cop said.
The police have since appealed to persons who witnessed the incident to come forward with information so they can speed up the investigation.</div></div>
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