By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

POLICE have arrested two men in connection with Saturday’s mass shooting that left two dead and five others injured.

The suspects are in their early-to-mid 20s. Police also believe they have recovered the vehicle used in the crime, as well as the one involved in a second fatal shooting near Superwash on Saturday.

“You can see that police is out there doing what we have mandated to do,” said Chief Superintendent Sheria King after a police-led walkabout in the Englerston community yesterday. “We take safety as our top priority and as such we have put more visibility of the police out on the streets. Our operation units are working 24/7 and we have strengthened our intelligent led policing as a proactive measure trying our best to ensure that these incidents do not reoccur.”

The two who died in Saturday’s shooting were identified as Markentash Saintil, 19, and Eden Louis, 18. They were sitting next to a car with a group of men on Robertha Drive, Ridgeland Park, when two gunmen pulled up and opened fire.

Videos of the attack, widely shared on social media, show two hooded men with high-powered weapons exiting a car and firing before fleeing the scene.

During the shooting, one man ran away while another was seen lying on the ground. After the shooters left, the man on the ground got up, and another person inside a red vehicle ran inside a nearby home.

Police said five men were injured in the attack. Most of the victims in Saturday’s shooting were of Haitian descent. One of them — Saintil’s brother — was released from hospital on Sunday, while the condition of the other victims remains unknown.

Reacting to the brazen shooting, anti-crime activist Carlos Reid called for more conflict resolution and anger management programmes in schools. He pointed to the failure of schools to adequately resolve conflicts among students, which then spill onto the streets with violent consequences.

“Our teachers have to be taught how to manage the conflicts and help our young people come to a place where they could resolve their conflicts. Another thing that we see happening is that a lot of people, and not just young people, people in general are angry,” Mr Reid said.

“The next call we’re calling for is how do we institute anger management? How do we help people to cope with some of the issues that they face? We’re seeing people that come out of schools, people go on workforce, and they can’t hold jobs because they don’t know how to manage their anger.”

He illustrated how friendships and social networks in schools and neighbourhoods often draw young people into gang-related groups.

“A lot of these persons live in communities and because they live in the communities, they get to hang around like the leaders, the drug dealers and some of them find favor. So when they go to school, they just have their little friends come and hang out with them. Just through hanging out like you become a part of like that fraternity.”

Immigration rights activist Louby Georges called the incident a tragedy “no matter the nationality”.

He stressed the importance of parental involvement and encouraging positive extracurricular activities to help prevent youth from engaging in harmful situations.

One of the deceased, Eden, was a recent graduate. His father, Renauld Louis, told The Tribune on Sunday that he tried to get his son hired at his workplace but faced challenges because his son lacked a passport.

Yesterday, Mr Georges pointed to inefficiencies in processing naturalisation and citizenship applications as a factor that can leave some individuals vulnerable. “The reality is that the gangs exist. The reality is that drugs exist. The reality is the guns exist,” he added.

“Life happens and when these individuals end up in this very vulnerable position because they cannot regularize their status, some of them may end up going astray and finding some grouping to belong to, and peer pressure, the environment, the community, the peers that they surround themselves with, may just be the ones that they shouldn’t have been with.”

“Again, I’m not blaming the government. I’m not blaming the Department of Immigration, but what I’m saying is, when persons end up in that vulnerable position because of the inefficiencies, then we may find ourselves with a situation like this.”