Twitter has been buzzing with the latest developments regarding Jamaica's state of emergency. Things began to look “much better” late yesterday: wanted men were turning themselves in, one international mainstream television station was reportedly going to “apologise for [its] ‘inaccurate report'” (although some tweeple were of the opinion that “an apology [was] not enough”) and all seemed quiet in areas that had previously been fierce battlegrounds.
Then came news that people were “throwing grenades at a house on East Kirkland in Red Hills”, (apparently an affluent area), to which @anniepaul commented:
They mus think Dudus deh deh RT @bigblackbarry: @anniepaul multi story, very affluent street.
@endzoftheearth: @anniepaul red hills gun battle. Not hearing anything any more – so look like it has ended. Heard abt tivoli flareup lastnite as well
@AvahTaylor confirmed that the “raid in West Kirkland Heights (Red Hills) earlier this morning was in search of Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke”, providing this link along with her tweet. She later added:
But to her, the math was off:
“60” dead, 4 guns recovered, 500 detained, 0 Dudus ? Wha kinda Maths that?
It appears, however, that security forces may be closer to capturing the man at the center of the standoff. Journalist Laura Redpath linked to a story which provided details on the Red Hills search in this tweet and rumours swirled that ‘Dudus’ may have been among a group of people recently taken into custody; those reports are still unconfirmed. Chez Hsia sums it up well:
Meanwhile, Dudus is nowhere to be found. The wrath that rained down on Tivoli was for naught; rumors are swirling that Dudus escaped in the heat of battle, slipping past the soldiers, that he has already handed himself over to the US, that he is in Venezuela, kicking it with Hugo Chavez. His legend grows by the hour.
