Security Guard Shoots 5 Students at Vere Technical

[Mosiah]

<DIV>A security guard this afternoon opened fire on 5 male students. At this point, it is not clear why he went postal. My guess is he is applying for a job with the NYPD.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>4 of the 5 were treated at hospital and released, the 5th victim is said to be in serious condition.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Can't wait to hear the reason for this incident, and no, the JFJ is not on the scene stirring up trouble.</DIV>

[Sickko]

RE: Security Guard Shoots 5 Students at Vere Technical

Just saw a report on TVJ and while the report was going on there was a shot of one boy kicking off the door to the security post.



The security post was then seen on fire....wonder if these students in venting their anger realises that it is not the security guard or the company he is employed to will be fixing that but it will come out of the school budget, stretched as it is already.

[Mosiah]

RE: Security Guard Shoots 5 Students at Vere Technical

<DIV>And bwoy, how distraught the students looked, jostling for position in front of the TVJ cameras.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>sigh</DIV>

[Mosiah]

RE: Security Guard Shoots 5 Students at Vere Technical

Sickko, I am a little disappointed and surprised by the principal's attitude. 5 students could have died "accidentally" and she is more concerned about what the community did and how the students reacted. Yes, we know their reactions were probably misguided, but she needs to deal with what caused it all in first place and stop talking nonsense about how great this security guard and his company have been.

[Sickko]

RE: Security Guard Shoots 5 Students at Vere Technical

Yes I saw that too, maybe she was trying some 'American spin', I dont know, well the Government has demanded an explanation and dispatched Noel Monteith to find out what happened.

[MdmeX]

RE: Security Guard Shoots 5 Students at Vere Technical

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Five Vere students shot by guard</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Angry residents burn security post to the ground</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Kerry McCatty, Observer staff reporter
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=223 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>One of the Vere Technical High School boys who suffered injuries to his back yesterday, when a guard's gun went off, hitting five students. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood)</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>THE central Jamaica district of Hayes, Clarendon erupted yesterday as enraged residents torched a guardhouse in retaliation for the shooting of five male students of the Vere Technical High School by a security guard.<P class=StoryText align=justify>One of the boys - all aged between 15 and 17 - was nursing shotgun wounds in the May Pen Hospital last night, while the other four were treated and sent home.<P class=StoryText align=justify>They are: Ryan Edwards (in hospital); Winston Henry; Romaine Bryan; Shani Pinnock and Orlando Lopez.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Principal of Vere Technical Henritta Stewart reported that the hospitalised student was conscious and was expected to leave hospital today after doctors see the X-rays to ensure that pellets were not too deeply embedded in his body.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Police and school officials were last night trying to figure out how the shooting took place and what caused security guard Basil Brown to discharge his firearm in the presence of the students.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The guard was in police custody and investigations into whether he had a valid firearm permit were underway, said deputy superintendent of police Cleon March of the May Pen Police.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Police said they were also investigating the company to which the man was employed. They did not know the name he gave for the security company - Blades - and the company was not listed. Directory Assistance had no record of it.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"So far the police have unearthed evidence to suggest that he didn't have a valid permit and if he didn't, the charges will be heavier than just shooting," March said.
March said the security guard claimed he saw two men on the compound, who had robbed students the day before, and that was the reason he was walking with the gun.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"The weapon has been seized for routine ballistics tests to determine the circumstances related to him discharging the weapon," he said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>As news of the incident spread quickly through the bauxite township, angry residents gathered at the gate of the famous school and set fire to the guardhouse, burning it to the ground.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Principal Stewart said the demonstrators blocked a section of the roadway outside the school yesterday, before setting the guard post afire.<P class=StoryText align=justify>No one, including three of the injured boys, was sure why the security guard's gun was out or why he approached them.
"We were sitting down in the TD (technical drawing) lab and the security come, him hold the gun behind his neck first and him pull it over and it go off," said one of the boys, whose arm was in a sling from the injuries he sustained.<P class=StoryText align=justify>His story was echoed by two others who were also injured. They suggested the guard might have been playing around and did not know that the gun's safety was off.

The sound of the gunfire sent students who were close by scampering for cover. The boys were still wearing their blood-spattered khaki uniforms up to late af