Following the fatal shooting of five men and seizure of nine guns in the garrison community of Tivoli Gardens in West Kingston on Sunday, police islandwide are now on high alert and say they will be ready if cronies of the dead men seek to avenge their deaths.

The police say they recovered an Intratech submachine gun, an M16 assault rifle, an AK47 assault rifle, a Mack 11 submachine gun, a shotgun, two Taurus 9mm pistols, a .44 Magnum revolver, a .38 revolver and 481 assorted rounds of ammunition.

The guns and ammunition that police said they seized in Sunday's raid in Tivoli Gardens during which five men were shot dead in what the cops said was a firefight.

A police constable and a Jamaica Defence Force soldier were shot and injured during what the police said was a shoot-out with gunmen.

Two of the dead men have been identified as Kwesi Cunningham, 24 and Roland Wellington, 20, while a third has only been identified as 'Andre'. At press time the other two men remained unidentified.

Last night, the police said that the 53 persons, including two women, who were taken into custody, were released.
Head of Operation Kingfish, Assistant Commissioner Glenmore Hinds said the police were aware of the possibility of reprisal attacks and were prepared to take on all comers.

"We always encourage police to be on extra alert, especially after incidents like these," said Hinds. "Vigilance is what we encourage, and at this time we need to be more vigilant."

In May 2005, days after police had cut down Tivoli Gardens residents, Christopher 'Chris Royal' Coke and a man identified only as 'Jello', their cronies led an assault against the cops which ended with three cops and a security guard dead and another cop shot and injured.

Coke and Jello had attacked and killed Corporal Hewitt Chandler at the intersection of West King's House and Waterloo roads when they were cut down by cops who were travelling in an unmarked vehicle. The two men were allegedly carrying out the attack on Chandler in reprisal for the death of former Tivoli Gardens 'community leader', Donovan Griffiths also called 'Zion Train', who was killed by the security forces a month earlier.

Angered that two of their own had been cut down, the following morning their cronies shot up the Cross Roads Police Station and murdered District Constable Canute Brown. Minutes later the same car load of gunmen shot dead Inspector Lascelles Walsh as he sat on his service motorcycle at Barry Street in downtown Kingston.

The men also killed Marksman security guard Richard Adams as he drove along East Avenue in Greenwich Town. Another cop who worked at the Hunts Bay Police Station was also shot and injured by men who drove up beside him.

"We will not sit back and wait like sitting ducks," one homicide detective said. "What happened in 2005 must not happen again. I personally am taking every precaution to stave off any attacks and I urge all police officers to be on red alert."

Yesterday, tension filled the atmosphere in Tivoli Gardens as police and soldiers patrolled the community. Some residents hit out at the action of the security forces, claiming that the killings were carried out in cold b*o**d.

"Dem kill the youth dem unjust and we know say the police don't like nobody in this community," one woman said.
The residents also said they were abused by the police and soldiers.

"Dem fire a barrage a shot and tear gas from the helicopter, kick off whole heap a people door and damage dem things. Dem beat up a lot of people too," another woman said.

But the police are adamant that they acted professionally and say they had gotten wind of the presence of men on their most wanted list in the community. The police say none of the men killed were among those being hunted.

"It seems they (the dead men) were acting as decoys and started shooting at us to give the wanted men time to escape," one cop said.

Yesterday Hinds, like his colleague, Inspector Steve Brown, on Sunday, declined to confirm reports that the wanted men were members of the feared Stone Crusher Gang based in St James.
"We are not going to make anyone who is wanted any wiser," said Hinds. "I can tell you that we were after people out of
St James."

In a story carried in the Observer last December, it was revealed that the Stone Crusher Gang had compiled a list of police who were marked for death. Police sources say the gang has ties to a criminal organisation based in Tivoli Gardens.