A call for clean up in Lightfoot after police kill criminal suspects in shootout

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A community wide clean-up of overgrown bush and wild trees is what residents in Lightfoot want as they lament that the many unkempt empty house lots in the area make them feel unsafe.
Those who spoke with OBSERVER media just days after Thursday’s shootout between police and two criminal suspects, did not want to be named due to their concern for their
safety.
Residents said that over the past two years, no clean-up has been done on the by-roads off East Lightfoot Drive, and they pointed out that the bush in most areas is as high as or higher than 10 feet, making it a perfect hideout for criminals.
“There is a lot of bush around the place. I would wish the owners or the government would clean it because visibility is so bad and I guess that’s why the area is targeted,” one woman said.
She stressed that the lighting of the streets in the area is not the problem, but “the bush is what makes visibility bad.”
Another resident explained that she cannot see around the corner from her home, even though there are no houses immediately next to hers.
“No house or building is blocking me, but the bush is there, all around, when I look out, that’s what I see on the land next door. If I want to see anything on [Vema Lane] I have to walk out from my street to the road,” she said.
Vema Lane is where the police came upon the criminal suspects Thursday. It is alleged the officers from the Rapid Response and Special Services units received a report at 1.30 a.m. that the men were “making a move” at the Classic View apartment building, located at the junction of two roads.
The police said the men opened fire on them as they approached and they returned fire. Residents said the gunfire went on for 10 to 15 minutes “maybe more” and then the noise stopped. The bloodstained concrete at the entrance of the apartment building and over 40 apparent bullet holes on the walls of the building, paint the picture of what went on that morning. The men who were killed have been identified as Jamele “Marlo” Hurst of Nut Grove and Travis “Ten Pound” Martin-Bailey of Tindale Road. At the time of the incident, the men were dressed in camouflage attire and had high-powered weapons in their possession.
They were both known to the Court for serious gun-related crimes.
Another resident said the noise was “frightening” and she said her children have not been able to sleep well since the incident.
The woman is contemplating moving from the area.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)

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