FATAL CLASH

A bizarre series of events at the Half-Way Tree Police Station in St Andrew on Monday ended in the shooting deaths of a well-known businessman and a respected police sergeant.

It was pandemonium at the St Andrew Central Divisional Headquarters on Monday after Deon Singh, part owner of Singh’s Motors, reportedly disarmed a policeman and shot dead Detective Sergeant Kevin Mayne before turning the gun on himself as he was being fired on by other police personnel.

While The Gleaner understands Singh shot himself in the mouth, it was not immediately clear whether he was killed by the self-inflicted wound or bullets fired by the other lawmen.

Singh and his wife, Sophia Ramsundar-Singh, had reportedly been before the court on Monday to answer to fraud-related charges.

The matter was before Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell and the accused were represented by attorney CJ Mitchell.

The Gleaner understands monies owed to complainants for motor vehicle transactions were paid over before the court hearing and, when the matter was called up on Monday, it was stood down to give police time to verify whether they had further interest in the accused.

After spending quite some time in the courtroom, the Singhs left for the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) office some time after 1 p.m.

Mayne was reportedly the investigating officer in a case against the car dealers.

He was escorting Singh to the lockup some time after 5 p.m., when he saw that the businessman was in possession of a cell phone. The policeman was attempting to take the phone from Singh when they got into a tussle, and another policeman went to assist Mayne.

Singh reportedly pulled the service pistol from the second policeman and shot Mayne multiple times before turning the weapon on himself as the lawman’s colleagues opened fire at the businessman.

Both men were taken to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

The Half-Way Tree CIB is probing the incident.

Mayne is said to have worked with Campus Police at The University of the West Indies in St Andrew during Keith ‘Trinity’ Gardner’s tenure as director of security.

“He worked for about two years. He was a very nice policeman. They used to call him ‘Superman’,” a colleague of the now-deceased policeman told The Gleaner.

The Independent Commission of Investigations was notified of the incident and a team of investigators arrived at the scene just after 8 o’clock last night and began their probe.

Singh’s Motors has been the subject of several complaints in recent years, with disgruntled clients raising concerns in articles published by The Gleaner about issues they faced while attempting to purchase motor vehicles from the company.

The Half-Way Tree CIB has confirmed that the car dealership was being investigated in relation to multiple allegations of fraud.

Several members of the Police High Command visited the crime scene yesterday.

It is the second time in two months that a detainee has fired a policeman’s weapon at a police station.

In May, a 35-year-old inmate reportedly snatched a policeman’s gun from under a desk near the cell block at the Montego Bay Police Station in Freeport and shot a fellow detainee.

He reportedly continued to fire more shots in the cell area, grazing a cop with a bullet.

An armed female cop who was in the vicinity reportedly went to assist her distressed colleagues but was reportedly frightened and was “unable to respond”.

Another cop took her weapon and fired at the prisoner with the gun, hitting him in the upper body and left foot, according to a report.

The prisoner then reportedly threw the gun on the floor. It was retrieved by the other cops.

The injured cop, the rogue prisoner and the man he shot were taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital for treatment.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com