Cops get ‘thumbs up’ after gunmen slain in Chinese Cemetery
Published:Thursday | November 14, 2019 | 12:34 AMJason Cross/Gleaner Writer
Shortly after three gunmen turned their weapons on a man yesterday morning in the lower Waltham Park Road area in St Andrew, a police patrol team engaged them in a running gun battle through the Chinese Cemetery, killing at least one of the thugs.
Up to press time last night, no official word on the number of casualties had come from the police’s information arm, but assistant commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigations, Hamish Campbell, told The Gleaner that two been killed, but only one was taken down by the police.
“In the incident, two people were killed, but only one of them shot by the police. One person was injured, but that appeared to be injuries from other gunmen and not the police,” he said.
Campbell’s comments align with the account of a policeman at the scene, whose identity was withheld because he is not authorised to speak to the media, who said that cops driving southerly along Waltham Park Road saw a group of men in front of the Chinese Cemetery firing at a group of people.
One man who later succumbed to injuries was found in the cemetery with multiple gunshot wounds. It is unclear what happened to his two cronies.
According to another policeman at the scene, “A nuff shot dem fire inside the cemetery, you know.”
A resident of Mission Road in the area referred to the deceased as ‘Coolie’, explaining that the gunman, who is from Crescent Road, and his cronies have been terrorising the community.
“From week start, dem shoot up Latore Avenue and Burke Road, and dem come this morning come shoot a man on this street. Sometime recently, him kill a man out at Julian Drive off Waltham, and from there, him name start hot up,” the resident claimed.
“This is a victory! People around here don’t like police, but this morning, a nuff thumbs up dem get.”