A teacher does some exercises with students yesterday to help them to relax at the Tredegar Park All-Age School. - Ricardo Makyn

Taking lunch 30 minutes late may have saved lives of several students of the Tredegar Park All-Age School in St Catherine on Wednesday.

''It was 12:55 p.m. when the shot started to fire. What happened next is that I dropped to the floor with all the students, while the criminals continued firing at each other,'' said a teacher.

"The students normally go for lunch at 12:25 p.m., however, they behaved atrocious in the morning, so lunch was late. That might have saved them from injuries, as they would have been out on the playing field which was the middle ground for the gunfight," she further said.

keeping watch

On Wednesday, the Tredegar Park community was invaded by gunmen from the nearby Gravel Heights. They are said to have fired several shots close to the school, which sent the teachers and students running for cover.

Yesterday when THE WEEKEND STAR visited the school there was heavy police presence there. A number of uniformed personnel were seen keeping watch close to the school. It is expected that they will remain there until normalcy reasons in the area.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Education is expected to provide a trauma team for the institution to counsel teachers and students.

"It is a very sad thing when criminals cause disruption in the lives of children. It must stop now,'' said Colin Blair, director of communications at the Ministry.