Soldier shot up a club

[Lazie]

early this morning .... killing 5. This is madness!

[Mosiah]

which country?

[Lazie]

which country?

Good question! In the tune Conscience Cham said, "Ah some sick white ppl duh dem tings deh a farin!"

Well him affi guh edit that line ... cause a yaad ...sorry Jamaica that tek place.

[Historian]

Good question! In the tune Conscience Cham said, "Ah some sick white ppl duh dem tings deh a farin!" Well him affi guh edit that line ... cause a yaad ...sorry Jamaica that tek place.

Lazie, it's interesting that while living abroad, you heard this and were thus able to post it while Mosiah, who lives in Jamaica, did not hear of it! And, in the same breath, what's the point of posting this extremely serious news item if you're not willing to provide details or a reference source?

This post does not make sense, and has to be the most irrelevant and irresponsible post that I've ever seen you make on this forum in the several years that I've been reading your contributions! You've stated in teh past that you don't drink alcohol, so what's the problem, boss?

This is nothing but crap from you!

[Me]

There is no crap in what Lazie said. The only thing is that Cham doesn't need to edit the line because his reason for saying that line is because he started to see those things going on in Jamaica.

5 persons were killed at the Boulevard supercenter.

The rumour part is that the soldier man girl giving him bun, him start spray, shoot himself afterwards and him and three other folks were still alive.

[Mosiah]

Lazie scans thru all the news programs on the Internet, minute by minute. I have better things to do with my time.

The other thing you should bear in mind, I am not in the habit of posting every news item I hear. Lazie is!

[Historian]

There is no crap in what Lazie said. The only thing is that Cham doesn't need to edit the line because his reason for saying that line is because he started to see those things going on in Jamaica.

5 persons were killed at the Boulevard supercenter. The rumour part is that the soldier man girl giving him bun, him start spray, shoot himself afterwards and him and three other folks were still alive.

Me: I didn't mean that Lazie was talking crap. In fact, Lazie always makes sense! I meant, rather, that what he did in posting that frightening news item yesterday, without any other details, was "crap"! Many of us who frequent this forum do not live in Jamaica, and I can assure you that I was very, very disturbed when I read Lazie's post yesterday and realized that some soldier had killed several people! To make matters worse, the online Daily Gleaner did not have its regular update at the top of the front page yesterday, and the Star newspaper was the previous day's. Trust me, i got scared when I read Lazie's two-sentence post!

Nevertheless, I most definitely owe Lazie an apology!

Heroes Day massacre
Four shot dead, four injured at Kingston gaming loungeBY KARYL WALKER Crime/court co-ordinator
walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com
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. Is only in the movies me see man handle gun so. 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.

[Mosiah]

It's ironic that Cham himself was not in the club and became a victim of this soldier's wrath. Cham is from Sherlock and regularly attends parties in the area, which is not too far. (Yes, I know this club was not located in Sherlock.) He is clearly Sherlock's most prominent resident and promoter.

Sad news. I know someone who knew one of the victims. I myself have twice visited that club. One wonders what the security was like to enter the club - people with knives and guns?!?

[Historian]

It's ironic that Cham himself was not in the club and became a victim of this soldier's wrath. Cham is from Sherlock and regularly attends parties in the area, which is not too far. (Yes, I know this club was not located in Sherlock.) He is clearly Sherlock's most prominent resident and promoter.

Sad news. I know someone who knew one of the victims. I myself have twice visited that club. One wonders what the security was like to enter the club - people with knives and guns?!?

Very good question, Mosiah.

I'll also say this: There is not a single day that passes without something tragic happening in little Jamaica! In a huge country with populations of many millions, one would definitely understand daily tragedy (homicide, vehicular accidents, fire, etc.). But a tiny island with a population of less than 3 million?!

By the way, it's interesting how widely and wildly different are the Jamaica Observer and the Daily Gleaner's accounts of what led up to the fatal shooting. Here are a few sentences from the Gleaner. A comparison with the first news report I posted above (from the Observer) provides an interesting look at how our local journalists dessiminate information.


According to reports, about 4 a.m. yesterday, scores of persons were at the birthday party at the Double Diamond nightclub in Boulevard Super Centre, St Andrew, when the soldier approached a woman and demanded she dance with him.

One person who was in the club told The Gleaner that the soldier said he wanted the "brown girl", and if anyone objected it would be "gun shot".

According to the reports, the girl repeatedly rejected the soldier's advances. When he persisted, two men from Sherlock Crescent in nearby Duhaney Park, intervened.

It is alleged that during a heated argument, one of the men pulled a knife. The soldier pulled a handgun.
Alleged eyewitnesses say the men ran off and the soldier opened fire.

[Me]

Don't see any crap in what he did. If he doesn't put a source, but he knows it is from a good source, i see no crap in that.

[Historian]

Don't see any crap in what he did. If he doesn't put a source, but he knows it is from a good source, i see no crap in that.

Boss, are you deliberately pretending not to understand my post above, or do you genuinely misunderstand what I wrote? Who on earth expressed any concern about "source"? I certainly never did at any time!!

My concern was with details, or in journalism parlance, the 5W's and one H (who, what, where, why, when and how). Read my post again and see for yourself that my concern was with details, which is why I was disappointed in not finding the news report in the online press:

Me: I didn't mean that Lazie was talking crap. In fact, Lazie always makes sense! I meant, rather, that what he did in posting that frightening news item yesterday, without any other details, was "crap"! Many of us who frequent this forum do not live in Jamaica, and I can assure you that I was very, very disturbed when I read Lazie's post yesterday and realized that some soldier had killed several people! To make matters worse, the online Daily Gleaner did not have its regular update at the top of the front page yesterday, and the Star newspaper was the previous day's. Trust me, i got scared when I read Lazie's two-sentence post!

[Mosiah]

Historian, you do realise that yesterday was National Heroes Day in Jamaica, right? It's a public holiday and many services would not have operated like a regular workday.

[Mosiah]

That account was the first one I heard. In fact, I heard several girls had turned him down, and that's when he lost it.

(Is a good ting ah doan have a...sorry, a joke is not necessary here.)

[Lazie]

Historian, you're making a mountain out of a mole hill bredren. Yesterday was a public holiday in Jamaica, therefore the news wasn't as forth coming as other days. The story was on NNN's midday news yesterday and they told was that details were limited as the police were still investigating.

[Historian]

Historian, you're making a mountain out of a mole hill bredren. Yesterday was a public holiday in Jamaica, therefore the news wasn't as forth coming as other days. The story was on NNN's midday news yesterday and they told was that details were limited as the police were still investigating.

I think I agree with you here, Lazie. What happened yesterday is that your post actually scared me somewhat (I didn't know where it happened, or who were involved), hence my hasty and rash response.

But thanks for always keeping us in touch with happenings back home, which we sometimes miss (I tend to rely too much on the online mainstream newspapers).