(Jamaica Gleaner) A 45-year-old female taxi driver was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon along the Tollgate main road in Clarendon.
The driver Claudia Nadine Thompson, who hails from Ebony Park in the parish, and plies the Race Course to Ebony Park route was shot by unknown assailants close to 1 p.m.
Her death has left relatives and friends in shock as they try to come to grips with her killing.
Thompson was described as a friendly person, one who looked out for the children in the community and who had a ‘million friends’.
Councillor for the York Town Division, Uphell Purcell, said the killing in the division is becoming unbearable.
“It is too much than we can bear, and even as the citizens are tight-lipped on what is happening, it is unbearable to every single person,” he told Gleaner Online.
Purcell said Thompson was someone who had been operating a taxi for many years in the area and the way she lost her life is of great concern to him.
“She is actually someone who is carrying the financial burden for the family. It is really unkind of those who have taken her life like this,” he said.
Purcell informed that a few days ago, another youngster was “taken out” and it has been an ongoing problem. “I am calling on the youngsters to stop it. The police always on spot but as soon as gunmen see the police out, they do their wrong,” he said.
Purcell said the children are now frustrated and traumatised and he has no idea what is going to happen in the community.
He made an open plea for the young people in the community “carrying the guns to stop it”.
“We cannot allow the citizens to be taken out of the society like this. It is unbearable to even your own family. Stop it, it cannot continue,” is the impassioned plea coming from Purcell.
