Statement on the 5 Murders in Waltham Park
Statement on the 5 Murders in Waltham Park
By
Dr The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
On
November 26, 2024
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First, let me join with both the commissioner and the minister in extending my deep and sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of those who were brutally killed in this multiple-victim violent incident.
We are very disturbed by this but I invite Jamaica and the press who are here with us to recall that a few weeks ago we had a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister to discuss what we saw as an emerging trend in violence and in particular homicides in Jamaica. This is as a result we theorize from our very effective approach in neutralizing, eradicating and in many respects disbanding gangs in Jamaica. We have moved from over 300 documented gangs to now just under 180 and we continue to degrade and eradicate them so we take careful note of the change in the nature of homicides in Jamaica. And though it is not yet the majority of homicides where the homicides are committed in what we are describing as multiple-victim violent incidents rather than the term mass murder, which we’re seeing generally used, which connotes a different kind of activity, we are still very much concerned that it is a growing profile in the homicides that are being committed. These homicides, these murders are being committed essentially by gangs.
Now, whilst the police have not definitively concluded in this specific instance that it is a gang-related matter, from what we are seeing so far, it is highly likely that it is a gang-related matter. The challenge, of course, is that the communities that are involved may not necessarily identify the players as being involved in a gang because by and large, the community members would not be necessarily aware of the intricacies and details as to how these gangs operate but one thing we can be certain of is that gangs have access to weapons. They acquire them, they stockpile them and they distribute them. They exercise control over them and they use them to exercise control over territory. They use them to conduct illegal activities such as extortion, trafficking, and other kinds of illegal activities. And ultimately they use them to inflict harm, violence, and ultimately death in the pursuit of their gang activities whether it is reprisals, whether it is a robbery, whether it is extortion, whether it is protection; they use armed violence to exercise control and influence over geographical areas and they use them ultimately to spread fear.
One thing that would have come out of this is an incredible fear in the communities that adjoin this area. It is a natural response for five persons to die within less than 15 minutes of each other, each incident occurring and the nature of how it happened. This is a bar with an outdoor area for entertainment. Jamaicans all over, we gather, we sit around a domino table, we have fun; this is how we socialize and for someone or a group of persons to believe that it is okay to just walk up onto the street side and shoot innocent persons from all intents and purposes. So far, what the police have concluded is that none of these persons here were necessarily involved in any gang activity. It is inexplicable. It is dastardly and it should never ever be accepted or normalized in this society and that is what we are grappling with, Commissioner, when we try to deal with gangs.
We have eroded many gangs. We have eradicated many of them. We have degraded many of them, but there is still a core that are being protected in communities. They live in communities. They have make themselves almost invisible to the community, but they are there and it is important that the communities realize that at any time they can raise their ugly heads, they can ‘rise the guns’ as they call it and commit these kinds of acts. And we have seen this over and over again in communities all around, communities that have been peaceful for a long time, communities where there are no problems, communities where all the gang members are the good guys essentially and then all of a sudden you’ll see that they have the capability to deploy violence. We have to deal with this and we will deal with this. We will not relent in degrading, eradicating, and eliminating gangs and gang members and I want to be absolutely clear on this.
I’ve given a policy directive that these multiple-victim violent incidents must be dealt with specially. We’re going to make the necessary change in laws to deal with them. We consider them acts of terror and we are examining the law to see what other penalties, what other deterrents can be placed in the law to prevent criminals and criminal-minded people in gangs from committing these kinds of acts, but in the interim, in the meantime from an operational perspective, the police can mobilize resources to deal with the problem as we have done in Cherry Tree Lane, in Wareika Hills, in Point Hill and in the other areas in which this has happened.
So, the persons who committed this act, mark my words, you will be found. And as I’ve said before, I say it again, you will either meet a judge or you will meet your maker. Anyone who commits these acts, the police will target you. We will focus on you. We will bring our investigative capabilities to bear and we will find you and you will get justice and I want to be very clear on that.