Cops probing ghastly drama at funeral in Kitson Town that left one dead

Police in St Catherine were yesterday holding back on comment after a bizarre incident during a funeral at Dovecot #2 cemetery in Kitson Town on Monday left one man dead and another hospitalised.

The incident, in which 23-year-old Isaac Foster, was fatally shot, has left the community in shock with questions raised about the handling of mentally ill individuals and the escalation of violence during such events.

Yesterday, both the commander for the St Catherine North police, Senior Superintendent of Police Hopeton Nicholson and Area 5 Commander, acting Assistant Commissioner Christopher Phillips, reserved comments on the incident.

Nicholson, noting that the matter was under investigation, said he would not comment at this time, while Phillips said he was awaiting a full report on the incident.

The funeral, which was being held for 84-year-old May Richards, turned chaotic around 2:15 p.m. when Foster, reportedly displaying signs of mental instability, disrupted the proceedings.

Witnesses said Foster shouted repeatedly, “She can’t bury here,” and attempted to open the coffin. Mourners initially restrained him, but he returned and succeeded in pulling Richards’ body from the coffin, tearing some of the clothing from the corpse in the process.

The situation escalated when Foster allegedly struck Phillip McFarlane, 58, on the head with a stone slab, inflicting a severe wound. In defence of his brother, Robert McFarlane, 55, discharged several shots from his licensed firearm, striking Foster.

Despite his injuries, Foster reportedly continued his odd behaviour, hurling stones at the mourners. Another mourner, Kevin Webly, 53 , also fired shots from his licensed weapon in an attempt to subdue Foster.

Viral videos of the incident showed Foster opening the coffin, standing over the desecrated body, and gesturing to alarmed onlookers who screamed at him to stop what he was doing, including a uniformed policeman.

Not a violent person

A friend of Foster told The Gleaner that he knew him for several years as a hardworking and calm person.

“He is not a violent person. He go work, come in, and sometime you will see him and his woman. I don’t know him as a violent person,” said the friend, who requested anonymity.

Glenton Washington, Foster’s former landlord, also described him as a calm and quiet person.

“He lived here for three years and, from I know him, he was a calm and quiet guy, he is not a rowdy person. He hardly talk,” said Washington.

Washington said he was disturbed by how the situation was handled and expressed outrage over how the private citizens discharged their firearms at the funeral.

Washington added that, to the best of his knowledge, claims that Foster had mental challenges only surfaced after the incident.

The Gleaner understands that police personnel, Corporal Orville Harding and Constable Travis Clark, were responding to an unrelated incident nearby, when they heard the initial gunfire and rushed to the scene. The policemen reportedly fired warning shots in the air in an effort to restore order.

Foster and the elder McFarlane were taken to the Spanish Town Hospital, where Foster was pronounced dead at 3:08 p.m. and McFarlane received treatment for his injuries. Foster was later identified by his girlfriend, while the scene of the incident was processed by law enforcement and the Independent Commission of Investigations.

Some 20 spent shell casings, a bullet fragment, and blood samples were collected as evidence. The firearms used by the parties involved were seized for examination and investigatons led by the zone CIB are ongoing.

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