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Press Clippings
Police shooting sparks protest
The killing of an "area don" by the police during a shoot-out off Mountain View Avenue, Kinston early yesterday morning sparked a protest by residents of the community. They blocked the major thoroughfare with debris in the afternoon but a large contingent of police cleared the blockage and kept peace in the area. The police said that Sylvester "Punky" Wint, 30, used a small child as a shield while engaging them in a gunfight about 2:30, but they shot him dead. However, protesters in the area said Wint was killed in cold blood. "That is what they say every day," Supt. Reneto Adams of the Police Eastern Kingston Division told The Gleaner. "When a man comes out of a house with guns blazing at the police we can’t wait, nor can we make him escape." Supt. Adams said that about 1 o’clock a police service vehicle on patrol on Mountain View Avenue was fired on by gunmen, hitting a policeman who had to be admitted to hospital.>
Later that morning, Supt. Adams said, he led a team of about 25 policemen and policewomen to communities off Mountain View Avenue such as Jacques Road, Backbush, Saunders Lane and Burgher Gully. He said they were shot at by gunmen and they fired back. "I got intelligence that one of these gunmen was at 51A Mountain View Avenue. We cordoned off the house and I ordered the occupants to come out of the house," Supt. Adams said. After an initial delay, he said, Wint ran through the front door, an infant in his left arm and firing a handgun with his right. Supt. Adams said the police took cover and Wint ran to the northern side of the yard, dropped the infant baby continued firing at the police. He was shot and was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead. A 9mm semi-automatic pistol with six cartridges was taken from him. A search of the house revealed 32 pieces of crack cocaine in a room occupied by Wint’s mother and girlfriend, Supt. Adams said. Dorothy Hines, 64, and Nicola Sterling, 26, were charged with possession of crack cocaine and dealing in the drug. The unharmed infant was taken into custody with Sterling, the child’s mother. Supt. Adams said that Wint had been wanted for three murders in Grant’s Pen, St. Andrew, the most recent occurring on Saturday evening and other major crimes. |
