Eight killed in St James, Trelawny in 3 days
Published:Friday | March 29, 2019 | 12:15 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
The murder toll in western Jamaica continues to climb, with at least seven persons killed in St James and one in Trelawny in the three days up to yesterday.
National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has described the situation as a disease for which the security forces will need to find an effective remedy.
“All of the killings that are now taking place are done in retaliation. It is like a contagious disease, and it will take an all-out effort on the part of the security forces to try and solve [it],” Chang said in reaction to news of a fresh wave of onslaught by criminals as he toured several police stations in the Area One police region yesterday.
“The police need resources, and we see also that they need mobility. We need the enhanced security measures, and on top of that, what we have in St James is a level of violence that cannot just be controlled by normal activities.”
Since the start of the year, at least 39 persons have been murdered in St James. The most recent victims are two men, who were shot and killed while they walked along the busy Barnett Street in the St James capital at about 5 p.m. Up to press time, they had not been identified.
Before them, the Mount Salem police reported that 35-year-old labourer Dwayne ‘Rasta’ Stennett and his cousin, Shane ‘Tino’ Williams, both of Branch Hall in Rose Heights, were among a group of men standing in a yard in Rose Heights when they were ambushed and shot by two armed men at approximately 8:30 a.m. yesterday.
Five injured persons were rushed to hospital, where Stennett and Williams were pronounced dead and the other three admitted in serious condition.
Prior to that killing, 38-year-old shopkeeper Omar Melville, of Canaan district, was shot dead in his community on Wednesday night.
Ryan ‘Bag Juice’ Martin, 20, of Retirement, and 50-year-old Hubert Dalley, of Orange, were also shot and killed.
One person was also reportedly shot dead in Kinloss, Trelawny, yesterday.
The national security minister yesterday said that a proposal is to be brought before Parliament shortly to get support for crime-fighting measures similar to the recently ended state of public emergency (SOE) to tackle the situation.
“We are examining the legislation, and we hope we can bring it to Parliament early as something that will give us some of the elements of the SOE,” said Chang.