And while the Chinese community made a spirited, defiant protest, they had the moral authority to do so, because information suggests that the two female grocers may have been shot for absolutely no reason at all; in fact - and this is the disturbing part - information suggests that there may not have even been an attempt at robbery.
Today we asked the President of the community about the killings:…
Jules Vasquez
"Why were these people single out for being shot. Was there a robbery element in these two events on Saturday?"
Edmund Quan, Bze-Chinese Association
"I am not sure. I cannot comment on that. I do not know. I have no idea."
Jules Vasquez
"Was there any robbery attempt? Did they say give me the money?"
Edmund Quan, Bze-Chinese Association
"Nothing was stolen."
Jules Vasquez
"Nothing was stolen."
Edmund Quan, Bze-Chinese Association
"But then I am not sure if the attempt was for murder. We would have to ask the murderers."
Jules Vasquez
"But did they ask for money? Was the attempt robbery? Did they say give me money and maybe they resist and the shootings occur after that. There must have been witness in the store who speaks Chinese."
Edmund Quan, Bze-Chinese Association
"I am not sure about that. Nothing was stolen. I am not sure if the motive was robbery but it happen. Both of them were behind burglar bars and there is no way that they could have taken anything. Actually if the victim were not dead probably they would have gotten something."
In the case of the king street shooting, police were quick to make a detention and get a weapon.
The Gang Suppression Unit was in the area and responded immediately to information that the gunman, ran into Rowland's Alley, which is 300 feet east of the shooting area. GSU Personell saw four men inside a yard at the corner of Far West Street and Rowland's alley. The four men were searched and while nothing incriminating was found, a search of the area led to the discovery of a 9mm pistol near the fence beside where 18 year old Jordan CAYETANO was standing. Cayetano's outfit also matched the one witness say was worn by the shooter, which is a black cap, black shirt and brown pants. All four were taken into custody and this evening two men were arraigned in court.
Jordan Cayetano was charged for the firearm found in Rowland's Alley while Keon Francis - we believe - was charged for the murder on Faber's Road. We say believed, because in an unprecedented move the media was barred from entering the courtroom where the suspects were being arraigned. Thus, the media could not tell what the charges were, if any, and what was the adjourned date. We assume that the Chief Magistrate Margaret Mckenzie did the arraignment, and left her courtroom to do it in anther court, so that the media could not see who the defendants were.
And the media were also prevented from getting the photo or the footage of the accused because we were not allowed to go to the back of the building when the accused were brought to court. In an editorial comment, we will say that it is unprecedented and deplorable.
But back to the actual murders. As we've alluded to, three of the weekend's four murders did not involve people with any known gang affiliation. There were persistent informal reports from street sources that the murders were orchestrated as a sort of retaliation after the gang suppression unit stopped and searched members of the George Street gang as they were on their way to a funeral for one of their members on Friday. The Prime Minister and the Police minister discussed that very scary possibility today:..
Hon. Doug Singh, Minister of Police
"It seems to be sometimes intentional on the part of some of the gang members to actually create havoc within the city and we plan to address this."
Jules Vasquez
"Do you believe there is a cause and effect relationship between the searches conducted at the Shamir Medina funeral and the shooting events meaning that there were at least three people shot for no reason other than to exact a retaliation against the state, and the sub- question of that is: will then you all try to restrain the activities of the gang suppression unit specifically, or will you react - as perhaps you rightly should - that, no, the state must continue with its work."
Hon. Doug Singh, Minister of Police
"Well first of all I can't confirm the theories in the first case that in fact one was directly related to the other. There are certain indicators as I said it is possible, but there is no evidence to say it absolutely is and so we certainly would not react or over react in that capacity. Would we restrain the activity of our Gang Unit? Absolutely not. I think the Gang Unit has been absolutely effective."
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"There is no hard evidence to suggest that in fact what happen with the senseless murders particularly of the Chinese ladies and the gentleman who I understand to have been a shift - that this was as you put it an attempt by the part of gangs to give the authorities work."
Later on, we'll have more from PM Barrow and Singh, as they discuss the strategy and deployment being taken to curb the upsurge in gang killings….
