Day after deadly gunplay at Malick preschool – Residents: We have nothing to say

SO DEEPLY rooted is the fear of crime that barely anyone was willing to speak when Newsday returned to Upper Seventh Avenue, Malick on September 26 – the day after deadly gunplay outside a preschool left two men dead and three others, including a four-year-old boy, with gunshot wounds.

Newsday's first stop on September 26 was at Roxann’s Learning and Childhood Centre, which was locked tightly.

Amarked police van was parked nearby. The four police officers in it said they were from North Eastern Division and had been deployed to patrol the area. They too appeared tense, all clutching MP5 assault-rifles and looking around constantly as they spoke with this reporter.

The school's principal, Roxann King, told police she was at the school at Basement Road, Upper Seventh Avenue on September 25 when at about 7.50 am, she heard a barrage of gunshots. A man burst through the front door and ran through to the back before collapsing.

When the smoke cleared, 35-year-old Gerard “Bill” Calliste of Upper Seventh Avenue, Malick, was found dead at the front of the school. The man who ran into the school was later identified as 29-year-old Kemo Calliste, also of Upper Seventh Avenue. He was taken to hospital but died while being treated.

Police said Koulen Joseph, 48-year-old Adina Jackson and her four-year-old grandson were all wounded. Newsday was told Jackson and her grandson have since had surgery and are in stable condition. Joseph is also warded in stable condition.

After speaking with the police, Newsday did a walkabout in the area and sought the views of residents.

A man sitting under a shed was approached.

“Nah, sorry, I can’t help you,” he said. “This is a crime spot. I have nothing to say. Read between the lines.”

Newsday went further up the street, where police reports said both dead victims once lived. A group of six men who said they live in the area.

“De borse, we don’t have anything to say really, yuh know,” said one of the men.

Newsday asked if they could confirm that Gerard and Kemo Calliste lived in the area.

“I eh feel you understand English, yuh know,” the man said. “No disrespect, eh, and don’t take it any wrong way, but we have nothing to say.”

The owner of a parlour was willing to speak but strictly on condition of anonymity. She said she had been selling in the area for about five years and throughout that time, never once felt safe.

“Me, I don’t move from my shop,” she said. “We here, we accustomed to hearing gunshots. When the shots start, I duck down and wait for it to end. I does shift my body as the shots are firing and hope for the best. A couple weeks ago, a man was shot not too far from here.
I was sitting right there. Yesterday, I was right there again,” she said.

"But I saw nothing, I did not look out, I bent my head and ducked down."

Tension was palpable as people walked by quickly along Basement Road.

While the preschool was closed on September 26, several shops were open. But few people came in or out of these shops when Newsday came calling.

Suspicious residents peeped out from behind window curtains and quickly retreated into their homes when Newsday called out asking for an interview. Whenever taxis arrived, people got in quickly and the cars sped off. Similarly, people getting out of these taxis did so quickly and walked off just as quickly.

A taxi driver lamented the state of crime and gang warfare in the country.

“This numbers thing, it is killing people out,” he said. “Is only a set of six and seven and seven and eight,” he added, referring to the names of certain criminal gangs.

Newsday returned to the preschool and was able to speak with King ,who said this was the first time such violence had taken place in front of her school.

“This school has been here almost 40 years at this location. I have been at this location for the past 27 years. Nothing like this has ever happened before,” she said. “It was just a case of indiscriminate shooting.”

She said the school is at a junction between Sixth Avenue and Upper Seventh Avenue and is usually busy at that time of morning.

“You can get people and cars passing thick like the main road, because that road links to Barataria and the Lady Young. So people were always passing, secondary-school children were going to school, primary-school children were going to school. People were walking on the road.
"I just thank God. It could have been so much worse.”

King said she isn’t sure whether the school will reopen or not. She told Newsday she is still trying to get her bearings.

“Yesterday was absolutely horrible, but today was when I really broke down,” she said. “After this, I am not sure what the next step is. I am just trying to get my bearings together. I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”