Triple murder rocks the West, tougher policing measures coming

Western Bureau:

Following a scary week of bloodletting across western Jamaica, with 14 persons being shot and killed and one stabbed to death, deputy commander of the St James Police Division, Superintendent Eron Samuels, says several new measures will be put in place to quell the lawlessness.

Samuels, who was a part of the security team that toured several crime-plagued communities across the region with National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang on Saturday, said he was aware of the latest killings - three bullet-riddled bodies found along a roadway in Zion community, near Barrett Town, St James, on Saturday night. He, however, had no details to provide on the matter.

According to reports, about 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, a motorist stumbled upon the three unidentified bodies, all males, and summoned the police.

On the arrival of the police, it was discovered that all three victims, who appeared to be young men, possibly in their 20s, were shot multiple times. About 31 spent shell casings were retrieved at the scene. None of the men had any form of identification on them.

Anthony Murray, the councillor for the Rose Hall division, in East Central St James, where Mount Zion is located, said while the men were unidentified, the fact that they turned up dead in that area is cause for concern.

“Well, to be frank with you, the Rose Hall division has been very calm in recent times as it relates to murders, so news of three murders in the community is of great concern to me,” Murray told The Gleaner. “Mount Zion is not one of the areas known for violent crimes, and to see what took place last night is really of concern.”

During his visit to Mt Salem on Saturday, Chang said the persons behind the violence were the remnant of gangs, which were displaced when the nation's first zone of special operations (ZOSO) was declared in the community in 2017. He expressed confidence that the police can quickly restore calm.

In Hanover, the conflict there was blamed on feuding by rival gangs over the spoils of lottery scamming.