Community meets with police after deadly week of gang warfare

Seven days, four shootings, two deaths and six injuries. It has been another terrifying week from April 1 to 7 for many Rocklands residents who have had to contend with the threat of gang violence in their neighbourhoods.

According to Cedric Daniels, chairperson of the Rocklands Neighbourhood Watch, a 32-year-old man died in a shooting in Phantom Crescent on Sunday April 6, just four days after a shooting in Capricorn Street on April 2 in which a 22-year-old man was fatally wounded.

On April 1, shots rang out in Arabian Crescent around 9.52am. Fortunately, no one was injured. Later that evening, multiple shots were fired near Strandloper Street, where six people were injured. Rocklands Neighbourhood Watch members were the first responders on the scene.

“One female was shot in the abdomen, and five men escaped with minor injuries. The shootings were meant for alleged OTF gang members, as a home was targeted. The community raised their concerns that it could have been a blood bath, as alleged American gangsters were running down every road with open firearms,” said Mr Daniels.

Mr Daniels said the Rocklands shootings appeared to be gang-related, involving the Americans, OTF, Fancy Boys and Naughty Boys gangs.

Neighbourhood watch members’ quick response time often means that they are first on the scene to do crowd control, secure the crime scene and speak to the victims’ families, he said, adding: “I am proud of our Rocklands Neighbourhood Watch members.”

Mitchell's Plain police chief, Brigadier Brian Muller confirmed the shootings of the past week. While no arrests have been made, the police and "external forces" are deployed in the Rocklands hotspot area, he said.

Meanwhile, about 30 Rocklands residents who live on the hill above Caravelle Primary, between Park Avenue, Spine and Caravelle roads, gathered at Glendale High to raise their safety concerns with the police on Saturday April 5.

Community representative Edward Sias, who has been a Rocklands resident for over thirty years, said there has been an increase in shootings and robberies in the area.

“We’ve seen an uptick in shootings, and lately, criminals are always robbing people, especially at the bus stop in Spine Road. At night, people are roaming around who are up to no good and try to break into homes,” he said.

Calling for more police visibility in the area, Mr Sias said Saturday's meeting was held not to point fingers at the police but to highlight the crimes and find out what residents can do to report incidents.

Mr Sias said the residents formed an interim committee to represent their safety concerns and join other safety structures in the area.

Addressing the residents on Saturday, Mitchell’s Plain police’s Tafelsig sector commander, Captain Ian Williams, urged them to report crimes timeously.

"As a community, you should speak to your families that when there are criminal activities, to report that timeously to police so that criminals can be caught in their tracks," he said.

“The community must not underestimate their power; sometimes something happens and people are afraid to speak up. It is easy to intimidate one person but not so easy to intimidate a group,” he said, adding that residents may feel safer to report crimes as a group.

Captain Williams encouraged residents to engage the community police forum structures on their challenges and solutions so that these can be brought to the station’s attention and further dialogue can be unlocked.