Shoot-out leaves one dead, disrupts court

A shoot-out between the Spanish Town police and three gunmen travelling in a white Toyota Probox motor car resulted in one of the assailants being shot and killed by the police, and another who turned up at the Spanish Town Hospital seeking treatment for gunshot wounds. The injured man is now under police guard.

The incident, which took place about noon yesterday at the intersection of Manchester and King streets near the Spanish Town courthouse, temporarily disrupted judicial proceedings, as scores of people, including lawyers standing outside, dashed for safety inside the building to avoid being hit in the crossfire.

Reports are that one of the gunmen fired a barrage of shots from an automatic rifle at an alleged witness to a prior shooting incident who was attending court. The men missed their intended target and were challenged by the police who were in proximity.

COLLISION NO DETERRENT

In their bid to escape, the gunmen collided with two other motor cars - a white Toyota Corolla driven by an off-duty policeman and a black Toyota motor car. The men alighted from the vehicle and engaged in a running gun battle with the lawmen. One attacker was shot and killed and two fled the scene on foot.

One of the escapees later turned up at the Spanish Town Hospital nursing gunshot wounds. It was not clear up to press time whether his wounds were life-threatening.

The off-duty policeman was treated at hospital for minor injuries.

The identities of the dead man and the other who is now hospitalised have been withheld, as investigations continue.

The police theorised that the attempted shooting of the witness could be a reprisal for Sunday's shooting that occurred in the Thompson Pen community of Spanish Town, in which three persons were killed.