Hunt on for cop killers

For the second time since the start of this year, members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are hunting the killers of one of their own.

This time, senior detectives are searching for the persons who fatally shot 37-year-old Corporal Kevin McLean of Coleyville, Manchester.

He was killed while reportedly attempting to foil a robbery in Frankfield, Clarendon, last Friday evening.

Reports are that about 7:40 p.m. last Friday, McLean, who was assigned to the Chapelton Police Station, was on his way home when he came upon gunmen who were in the process of robbing two Chinese.

The men opened fire at him, hitting him several times. McLean was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

In the wake of the murder of another cop and attempts last Thursday by gunmen to escape a police dragnet by launching a hand grenade at them, Acting Police Commissioner Novelette Grant urged members of the Force to be extra careful.

"Even as we mourn the loss of our colleague, we remain vigilant and will continue to push back against lawlessness," Grant said in a release issued by the police information arm.

According to Grant, the Police High Command will continue to support its members. She urged the men and women under her command, especially those on the front line who put themselves in harm's way daily, to make personal safety a top priority.

This is the second time since she was appointed to act as police commissioner that Grant has had to respond to the killing of a member of the Force.

In February, 55-year-old Sergeant Neville Bryan, who was assigned to the Police Emergency Communication Centre, was fatally shot by gunmen in Portmore, St Catherine.