And the graphic video that has emerged after the murder of Dwayne Gabourel has served as a reality check for the gang underworld. Members of the law abiding public may look on with suspicion and grave misgivings - after the dozens of gang ceasefires that always fall through - and the body count hat follows - but, yesterday, multiple rival gangs tried to forge ahead in peace.
7News was a part of one such initiative. UDP politician Phillip Willoughby - who is his party's standard bearer for Port Loyola - called our newsroom to witness a truce he was trying to hammer out between two gangs that literally live around the corner from each other. The rivalry between Supal Street and the Southside Gangsters has been red hot over the past few months - and it has led to the loss of quite a few lives.
But, yesterday, they agreed to a ceasefire - and Jules Vasquez was their witness. Here's his story:
Call it a mobile mediation; I'm meeting with two members of rival, neighbouring gangs - Supal Street and Southside - in Port Loyola aspirant Phillip Willoughby's Ford Expedition at the corner of Kraal Road and river Streets. We meet at the fixed police checkpoint as a kind of peace-keeping measure.
Under deep tint, I'm in the backseat between the rivals - a few accusatory words are thrown - things heat up, but don't get out of hand. One of the combatants suggest that to squash it we should go around the corner to Caesar Ridge Road, here at the base of the South Side Gang where we meet leader Alex Underwood and his followers taking an evening drink.
It's enemy territory for Alvarez but within minutes - the ice melts and Alex Underwood steps up to Alvarez and they shake on it - a truce is formed in one small gesture:
Yearwood and Alvarez stay and reason out the past misunderstandings and while this might seem like nothing more than two guys who grew up together catching up - 48 hours ago - this encounter would have ended in bloodshed.
That was before the killing of Dwayne Gabourel, but now…out of senseless death a possibility for peace:
Alex Underwood, SSG
"Yes mein we are seizing fire like everybody else. The man say we are into peace, so we are into peace and nothing else. We will show the society that peace we are into and we will prove them that we will make it happen."
Jules Vasquez, Reporter
"How you feel to be in what two days ago would be a real problem area for you?"
Kevin Alvarez, Supal Street
"Like what I told you, it's here I grew up and hang out, I didn't want to go against anybody, but like what I told you everything already happened and forward we are moving now."
Alex Underwood, SSG
"Like what I told the man that we will link up more, we have a little football organization and the man is a footballer, we will recommend the man to play with us and we will show the people that we will come back together."
Kevin Alvarez, Supal Street
"We are holding it down, seizing fire like what the man said. We would want it to get back like one like how it was. It was nice when all of us were one, then you see the real love. I wish it get back like that."
And how it got the other way is because - again - someone wore the wrong-coloured shirt:
Jules Vasquez, Reporter
"The whole thing start off from a shirt, are we able to move past that mein? You know like man is getting shot after or man is getting hurt because of a shirt."
Kevin Alvarez, Supal Street
"We could move past that. We just have to keep it real right. At the end of the day colors is not feeding or put anything on our table."
And while we would call it at best a fragile truce - it is a start.
We'll keep following and let you know how this one holds up.
