Firefighters grieve for corporal killed in St Mary home invasion
Published:Monday | September 23, 2024 | 12:09 AMGareth Davis Sr/Gleaner Writer
Free Hill, St Mary
Commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), Stewart Beckford, has indicated that psychosocial support is to be provided to colleagues of Corporal Gary Samuels, who was killed during a gun attack at his home in Free Hill, St Mary, early Sunday morning.
Beckford, who spoke with The Gleaner via telephone later on Sunday morning, pointed out that the JFB had already mobilised its chaplaincy unit, which would be heading to St Mary to lend mental health support to team members across the division.
He added that firefighters islandwide were in deep sorrow following the murder of one of their own, who was last seen by his colleagues exiting the Port Maria Fire Station after ending his 10 p.m. shift on Saturday.
“It’s a sombre mood … one of sadness coming so soon after the death of firefighter Shahine Nelson just two weeks ago,” said Beckford.
Nelson succumbed to injuries sustained in a car crash on September 6 in St Catherine.
“The way in which Corporal Gary Samuels was killed, I think, would have rattled the members of the St Mary division, in particular the Port Maria Fire Station, where he worked up until 10 last night. So he left work, went home, and of course would have been home in his bed when the house that he shared with some other relatives would have been invaded.
“He was brutally shot and killed. We are not sure of the circumstances that would have led to this, but what we do know is that another member of the household was also killed in this incident. The Port Maria police are leading the investigation and they are in touch with us as to how the investigation is progressing.”
Invaders pretended to be police
Forty-eight-year-old Samuels, who served the JFB for 27 years, was reportedly gunned down along with 26-year-old Barrington Clarke by unknown assailants shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday, during a home invasion in that community.
According to police reports, Clarke and his common-law wife were at home when they heard several loud explosions coming from the direction of the lower floor of the two-storey dwelling. It is allegedly that people then went up to the upstairs area and shouted “police”.
The police said Clarke, on hearing the invaders identifying themselves as lawmen, proceeded to open the door. The gunmen then entered the room shared by the couple and questioned them about the whereabouts of another individual. They subsequently opened fire, hitting Clarke all over his body.
The attackers fled and Clarke’s wife reportedly rushed downstairs to seek help when she stumbled upon Samuels’ lifeless body in a pool of blood on the ground with what appeared to be gunshot wounds.
“I am in the process of conveying our deepest sympathy to the wife of Corporal Samuels, who I understand is overseas at this time. It is not an easy thing to digest, it is not an easy thing to deal with generally, and so that is why it’s important that we provide whatever support is needed, counselling and or one-on-one sessions. It is not easy to lose a family member, and that’s what he is. After working 27 years, he is family and he was one of those persons who contributed immensely to the fire brigade in the St Mary division. And it is hard for them to fathom why this has happened to a person like him and we need to lend whatever support we can,” Beckford said.