Hotel horror - Tourist shoots gunman-rapist in MoBay resort drama

WESTERN BUREAU :

The festering crime problem that has been plaguing St James jolted the tourism sector on Thursday night when a gunman barged into a hotel room in Montego Bay and raped two female tourists before he lost possession of his weapon and was shot by one of the visitors.

After he was shot, the gunman allegedly jumped over a balcony and fled. The weapon, which was reportedly stolen from the room of another guest, was turned over to the police.

"Based on our initial investigations, the gunman was employed to the hotel two days ago as an entertainment coordinator, so it was not someone who walked in off the street," a police officer told The Gleaner. "The gun he had in his possession was stolen from the room of another guest, who is a licensed firearm holder."

POLICE REPORT

According to police reports, at approximately 11:15 p.m., the two visitors, who are from Detroit in the United States, were in their room at the Riu Reggae Hotel in Ironshore, Montego Bay, when a man, who was armed with a handgun, walked in on them. With gun in hand, the man demanded that they perform various sexual acts on him.

While he was raping one woman, the gun reportedly fell from his hand. The other woman picked up the weapon and pointed it at him. He tried to disarm the woman, who fired two shots at him. He ran out of the room, jumped a balcony and fled. The police, who were summoned to the property, found blood stains below the balcony.

"We believe he was shot either once or twice, based on the amount of blood below the balcony and on the ground leading into bushes off the hotel's compound," said a police officer. "We will be carrying out further searches to see if we find him."

Based on preliminary investigations, the police have identified the gunman as Demar Scott. However, there is uncertainty about where he is from as the police have found two identification cards for him, giving two different addresses. One ID card says he is from Exchange district in Ocho Rios, St Ann while the other says he is from Comfort district in Williamsfield, Manchester.

"When we went to the location, one of the women handed over a 9mm Glock 17 pistol with serial number DTN201," said a police officer. "It was loaded with 16 live rounds of ammunition."

Confirming the incident in a statement yesterday, the management of RIU said: "Last night, September 27, there was a very unfortunate incident in the Riu Reggae Hotel in which two guests were attacked by a trainee at the entertainment department of the hotel. The man, who had been in training for only three days, was able to escape. The hotel management immediately called the police and accompanied and supported the guests with everything in this difficult moment. We are unable to share further details, both for the protection of our clients' privacy, as well as to not interfere in the investigation being already carried out by the local authorities."

Some six hours after the Riu incident, another Montego Bay hotel was also dragged into the news. At about 5:45 a.m. on Friday, the police, acting on information, went to the Hotel Gloriana on Sunset Boulevard in Montego Bay, where five men were arrested and two illegal firearms seized. The men were wanted in connection with a recent shooting in Spring Mount, also in St James.