The spraying of bullets in a crowded Fort Lauderdale dance hall had all the marks of street-gang revenge.
The Jamaicans thought to be responsible had a fancy name, the Shower Posse, and a violent reputation. Few witnesses wanted to talk to police. No one saw anything.
But the Shower Posse is unlike other gangs investigators have dealt with.
Its members aren`t teen-agers protecting a neighborhood turf. Gang members carry machine-gun pistols they can hide under their coats — the turf they want includes all of Broward and Dade counties. And investigators suspect their violent ways were nurtured in the political unrest of their native country.
“They are a violent, spooky group. You could classify them as an emerging organized crime group with political aspirations,“ said a law officer who has been watching the group for months.
The gang, estimated to be anywhere from 60 to 350 members strong in the two counties, is being investigated by several law enforcement agencies in connection with drugs, smuggling of guns and illegal aliens, and related acts of violence and murder, officials said.
“It is a politically oriented group,“ said a federal investigator. “They came to the United States from Jamaica sometime after 1980 and are attempting to generate money through drugs and other illegal means. We speculate that it might be so they can go back to Jamaica and make some kind of a political move.“
One man was killed and three others injured early March 30, when an undetermined number of gunmen thought to be members of the Shower Posse walked to the door of a rented dance hall in northwest Fort Lauderdale and opened fire on the crowd with machine pistols.
A disc jockey at the dance hall, Peter A. Forgie, 23, of Fort Lauderdale died after being shot six times. Junior C. Bulgin, 29, of Fort Lauderdale, one of the three men injured, was released Friday from Broward General Medical Center.
Augustus G. McKoy, 30, of Lauderhill was listed in stable condition at Broward General, and Dennis Thompson, 29, of Fort Lauderdale was listed in stable condition at Imperial Point Medical Center.
More than 250 people had been at the reggae dance. But by the time investigators got to the hall at 1421 NW Eighth Ave., most had scattered. Of the 35 people police were able to corral, most said they saw nothing because they had run for cover. Those who did see the shooting, detectives said, were not cooperative.
“When we first got there, the word was going through the crowd that it was the Shower Posse that did it,“ said homicide Detective Rick Rice. “But nobody would talk about it. They are afraid of retaliation.“
Investigators found more than 50 spent cartridges near the entrance of the hall and several weapons on the floor inside. But because of the lack of cooperation and information, homicide detectives have come up with little other evidence, no suspects and no concrete motive other than the indication of drugs, they said.
“We are really no closer than we were the morning we got there,“ Rice said.
So detectives have been pooling information with other agencies investigating similar acts of violence in South Florida in which Jamaicans were either victims or suspects.
Investigators say a Feb. 11 shooting that injured two people at a reggae dance at Hollywood`s Jaycee Center may have involved the Shower Posse. But again, lack of cooperation from witnesses has hindered the investigation.
Investigators said they are also looking for ties between the group and several drug-related murders in Dade County.
“We are going to be in contact with the Border Patrol, Customs and the Immigration and Naturalization Service to see what they know of this group,“ said homicide Sgt. Dave Patterson.
Other than its reputation for violence and intimidation, authorities said they know little of the tightly knit group.
“We suspect they have been shooting up places for a while but nobody really realized it was the same group in all of these,“ an investigator said. “They are well-organized; they are nasty, violent individuals. Retribution is high on their lists.“
Bill Blanco, a gang intelligence detective with the Metro-Dade police, said he is aware of the group but knows little about its activities.
“This is a gang that didn`t really come fully to light until the incident in Fort Lauderdale,“ he said.
Other agencies have been aware of the Shower Posse longer. Investigators said the group does not resemble traditional gangs composed of street criminals and juveniles. Older individuals, mostly in their 20s, make up the Shower Posse.
Investigators said they suspect the organization`s roots can be traced to the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, where terrorist violence was rampant in the late `70s and early `80s.
The violence reached its height during the months before the 1980 election in which Prime Minister Michael Manley and his socialist People`s National Party were defeated by Edward Seaga, leader of the Jamaica Labor Party.
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