The menacing figures surrounding the car made their deadly intentions clear as they emptied their automatic weapons with impunity.What was unclear was the target.Was their quarry all three men who were “breezing” in the vehicle or was it one man in particular or two?The question has never been answered as the culprits remain at large six years on.It was close to midnight on April 25, 2004, and Mark “Mackie” Medford, 29, of Bridge Gap, Black Rock, St Michael; Junior Coward, 38, of 7B, Farm Housing Area, St Michael and Neil Carmichael, 27, of Knight’s Land, Westbury Road, St Michael, had just returned from one of their jaunts in the nearby Deacons Farm Housing Area. Moving aroundA few of the residents were moving around with the usual fuss of making ready for a weekend of enjoyment or winding down from having had a little too much fun.Whatever their business, they were not prepared for the near carnage of that Friday night even though the district had seen its fair share of tragedies and violence.Ferniehurst, Black Rock, as the saying goes, “butt and bound” with Deacons Road, and the districts have secured a place on the grim side of the history of the St Michael parish. The meeting point of the two districts is considered the home-base of the notorious “Red Sea”, a gang of sorts, that once upon a time came squarely under the microscope of local police.Rival gangsConstant clashes with rival “gangs” in the late 1990s cemented the sinister reputation of the group, taking it farther and farther away from its Biblical origins, and that miraculous “parting” by Moses, one of the most powerful figures in the Holy Book.More present-day details of the Red Sea’s misdeeds were now emerging, mostly through court cases – anything from robberies, to serious injuries, to murder on either side of the gang violence. During one of those cases, the name “Mackie” came up when matters related to the Red Sea were discussed.The Coroner’s Court investigating the death of Carl Lashley came across a reference to one “Mackie” when a Trinidadian spoke about the stashing of a gun.Many rumoursThus, upon his death, rumours abounded on the night of the shooting. One of the rumours was that only two or three days earlier “Mackie” had been “in a scene” with a man.There were also unconfirmed reports of a parting of ways with the Red Sea.On this night, however, when the smoke cleared from the hail of bullets and residents cautiously surfaced from the security of their homes, “Mackie’s” bullet-riddled body was slumped behind the steering wheel of a blue car.In what could only be considered a miracle, Coward escaped with injuries to his back and leg while Carmichael was shot in both legs.Meanwhile, the culprits used the ensuing panic and fear to slip away into the darkness from which they had materialised. Terrified residents compared the rapid gunfire to that heard and seen in war-torn countries.One man, about to park his vehicle when the shooting broke out, hit the floor until the gunfire abated. The sound of rapid gunfire reached as far as the Black Rock Police Station, about half-mile away and officers sprang into action.From the looks of it, this was an execution, maybe a triple execution. Information, as would be imagined, was not forthcoming. Flew into islandAs a mother flew into the island to bury her son, she could not rest in the sure knowledge that her son’s killers would be brought to justice.Instead, Pamela Small was confronted with the unsettling feeling of being watched. The appearance of unidentified men and the fear that her family was in mortal danger prompted her to make a public appeal for her safety.“Things getting from bad to worse,” she lamented back in June 2004, fearful that her family was in danger.Her story was one of intimidating phone calls at all hours, of a mysterious car parked outside of the home and of being tailed by a particular tall, dark man.Her message was simple.“Stop harassing my family. My son dead and gone ‘long. . . . Whoever kill my son, they got to deal with the police and not me. I haven’t committed a crime.”
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