Families are fleeing their homes, senior citizens have had to seek medical attention, children are being separated from their parents, and some residents have contemplated selling their commercial and residential properties.
These are some of the measures residents in Enterprise, Chaguanas, have been undertaking following the spate of shootings by armed gunmen in the area recently.
Rapid gunfire is a sound residents of Bhagaloo Street, Boss Lane, Enterprise Street, Crown Trace, Gittens Lane and Chris Terrace West have grown accustomed to.
The fear of bullets piercing concrete walls, gates, and vehicles now haunts many residents.
During a visit to Enterprise on Thursday, few residents ventured outside their homes, while shops, minimarts and businesses attracted fewer customers, as police officers in marked vehicles patrolled the community to maintain law and order.
At Boss Lane, where there were more than 40 bullet holes on concrete walls and houses, 30-year-old Romell Parris admitted that his life had turned upside down since the random shootings began four weeks ago.
"People want to move out from here because it's no longer safe. But a lot of us don't have anywhere else to go. This is where we grew up. We have to stay here and pray that we don't get shoot when these gunmen open fire unexpectedly," Parris said.
He said Boss Lane was one of the quietest streets in the neighbourhood, but had since turned into a Gaza Strip.
"The gunmen shoot up everything–from fridge to dustbin to cars," he said.
Tenants flee apartment building
Parris pointed to a nearby apartment building that housed four tenants up to last month.
"The landlord told me all the tenants left two weeks ago after the building and outside walls were fired upon. Luckily, no one was injured. It's really a scary feeling."
Parris said one of his neighbours, whom he identified as Carl, had also expressed a desire to move out of the area permanently.
Parris' 66-year-old mother Veronica Parris said she was now living an uncomfortable life and wished she could shift to a safer location.
She said the shootings prompted her daughter Arnell to move her two young children to a relative's home in Ravine Sable ten days ago.
"This is causing a disruption in family life. The children have to be separated from their mother. You think that fair? A lot of mothers in here did that to protect their children. Every time I hear them gunshots my heart does race. I does end up trembling," she said.
Not far away, Ann Marie Andal, 46, a mother of two special needs children, confessed that she had to temporarily leave her home when the shootings intensified in June.
"It was getting out of control. I couldn't take the gunshots any more. My children kept crying and screaming. I had to go Claxton Bay with the kids until things die down. Even though the police patrolling they still shooting up all over. Innocent people are becoming targets at the hands of these men."
A few feet from Andal's fence were five spent shells of a 9 mm pistol lying on the ground.
On Tuesday, Andal returned home, but she said she remained worried and terrified.
"I wish I could sell the property I live in but it does not belong to me. If it was in my name I would have put it up for sale for sure," Andal said.
Ducking for cover
Andal's 89-year-old neighbour Mathilda George said she would not sell her house but wished she could move out until normality returned.
"The place not nice again. Instead of enjoying my twilight years I have to duck for cover whenever I hear gunshots going off. I don't know what this place coming to."
At Bhagaloo Street, another hot-spot area, residents kept indoors.
A 75-year-old resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said two weeks ago gunmen ran through her property and began firing at will.
The bullets struck a young man in both his arms.
"Every night you would hear rapid gunshots. It got me sick until I had to be taken to the hospital for heart treatment. I spent two days there. Long ago you could have left your doors open. Now it's a different story. You like a prisoner in your own home," she said.
Another resident said the teenagers behind the shootings grew up in the community.
"Many of us held them in our arms as babies. Now they have no respect for you. They still have mother's milk on their faces. They are just 15- and 16-year-olds and could barely operate a gun. But they pulling the trigger."
A stone's throw away, at Chris Terrace West, Carrie Roberts, whose minimart was fired upon, said fear had gripped the community, especially the children.
"If these youth men come back with their weapons I don't know what I would do. I might have to sell my business and move out. Our lives are not the same. No one knows who will be next."
Roberts felt the police needed to take decisive action against the lawless perpetrators.
"I don't think enough is being done."
Sitting behind the counter of a nearby shop, which bore bullet holes on the outside walls, two women refused to lift their heads to speak.
Soldier's stepson shot
At Rita Street, a soldier who has been in the Defence Force Reserves for the past 12 years was making plans to move out of the community because his 19-year-old stepson almost died from a gunshot wound to his chest two weeks ago.
"On Saturday (yesterday) I will be leaving Enterprise. I have to move out for the safety of my stepson and his mother who is a police officer. They (gunmen) don't care I am a soldier."
The soldier said his stepson saw the faces of the shooters and feared they would return.
"I used to rent an apartment in Enterprise for $2,500. Where I am going now the rent is $3,500. This is putting me in expense. But the safety of my family comes first."
The soldier said the gunmen and their associates communicated via walkie-talkies. �2 See Page A12