André' Williams, STAR Writer

The West Kingston police say the son of convicted gangster Donald 'Zeeks' Phipps was among men in possession of firearms when he was shot and injured on Matthews Lane yesterday.

THE WEEKEND STAR understands that 22-year-old Renardo Phipps remains under police guard in hospital, while a tense calm now exists in the area following the alleged shoot-out between gunmen and police who were on operation in the community.

Phipps was reportedly shot in the head during the incident.

While not outrightly labelling Phipps a target, head of the Western Kingston police, Senior Superintendent Cornwall 'Bigga' Ford, said the police were acting on a report.

Certain activities

Ford said: "The police got a report that certain activities were taking place ... men were on a roof with guns."

He was unable to say if Phipps had taken over the reigns of the community. "We know he has some influence in the area ... that is all we will say now because the investigation is ongoing," Ford added.

Our news team gathered that no firearm was recovered from the injured Phipps.

"No guns were recovered at the scene ... he was on the roof when he was injured, he wasn't alone ... the police say they saw him on the house top with gunmen," said Ford.

Meanwhile, there was a large crowd which had converged on the Kingston Public Hospital where Phipps was treated yesterday afternoon.

A large contingent of police personnel was also deployed to the community.

The elder Phipps is currently serving life imprisonment for the 2005 murder of Dayton Williams and Leroy Farquharson.