Residents in the Birch Tree Hill area of West Bay say they are living in fear of a spike in gun violence following Sunday’s shooting on Gorse Lane which left one man in serious condition in hospital.
The attack, police said, was targeted and appears to be gang-related, and it has left many in the community with an uneasy feeling.
“There’s going to be a lot of retaliation for this. I hear it… since that incident. People are going to retaliate and a lot of people are going to get hurt,” said Monica, a resident in the area who asked that her real name not be used for the interview.
Monica said she knows what’s coming and she is looking to move out of the neighbourhood as soon as possible.
“I just spoke to my landlord and I told her I trying to move out before the 15th to get out of this area. I have kids and it is not safe to work here,” she told the Cayman Compass Monday, adding that even her kids are scared to wait for the bus on Birch Tree Hill Road.
Walton: ‘Allow the police to do our job’
Police Commissioner Kurt Walton, in his statement on the shooting Sunday, noted the community concern over the incident and rise in gun-related crimes over the weekend.
“We urge everyone to continue to exercise personal safety, but by the same token we remind everyone not to attempt to take matters into their own hands, but allow the police to do our job. The best way to do this is to provide information which can assist with our investigations, no matter how minor it may seem. Don’t help the culprits evade justice by keeping information to yourself,” he said.
In recent months, there has been a steady rise in criminal activity; however, this last shooting has upset the quiet community on Gorse Lane, which is off Bramble Close.
Investigations into the shooting, which occurred just before 1:40am Sunday, are ongoing and no suspects have been arrested.
One man was shot multiple times outside a house on Gorse Lane. Police said he remains in stable condition and is recovering from his wounds.
A Gorse Lane resident, who the Cayman Compass spoke to on Monday, said when he learned that there was a shooting he was taken aback.
“It was rough to hear. This neighbourhood has always been a peaceful neighbourhood,” he said.
He said he was shaken as he never expected such violence to occur on their street.
“We never had any kind of violence here. I have been living here 40 years,” he said.
He was asleep when the actual shooting occurred, he said, but the police sirens and the flashing lights woke him.
“I got up and peeped out the window and I saw the ambulance. People were coming out,” he said.
Another Gorse Lane resident said he is scared for himself and his wife.
“I am worried. We never had anything happening like this. I was very shocked when I heard about it,” he said.
‘I thought it was fireworks’
On Andresen Road, a street over from the scene of the shooting, resident Keith, not his real name, said he recounted hearing “bang, bang, bang” in the early hours of Sunday morning.
He said at the time he did not think that it was anything other than someone shooting off fireworks.
“I was home in the kitchen and I heard the dogs going off. They do not like fireworks. I opened the door to get them inside. I heard a few more bangs and when I looked up I did not see anything. I did not think anything of it until today when I saw it on the news that someone got shot,” he said.
He too is worried about a spike in shootings in the area as the Birch Tree Hill community has seen its share of gun violence over the years. In the mid-2000s there were a string of tit-for-tat murders.
Since then there have been pockets of violence.
Keith said he lived through that earlier time of violence in the community, having grown up in Birch Tree Hill.
While Keith said he does not want to see retaliation killings occur, he added in that area “that goes without saying”.
“This has always been a problem in West Bay, if it’s not Birch Tree it’s Logwoods. It is what it is. It’s weird too because depending on who is coming to visit me I even have to tell them Conch Point Road or Andresen Road. If I say Birch Tree Hill, people do not want to come… that’s how bad it is. People are scared of this part of West Bay,” he said.
He called for more police presence in the community.
He said there should be patrols within the side streets and not just on the main road.
He said even with the cameras around his property and guard dogs he still feels afraid.
Keith said it will take a concerted effort to keep Cayman safe – from better vetting of people who come into the country to stamping out guns coming through the borders.
Monica agreed there is need for a greater proactive approach to crime, especially if the authorities know who the troublemakers are in the community.
“The police cannot go around and raid everybody’s house. But if that means that you have to stop every single car, every single day, to search these people, something needs to be done… if not Cayman is going to the dogs, it is going into a hole and we’re never going to be able to pull it back out. Tourism is going to drop because crime is going to rise,” she said.
She urged the community to work with the police and provide information on where the guns are and who is committing these crimes before it is too late.
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