Deaths of parent, teacher rock St Andrew schools
Published:Thursday | January 30, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
The ravaging effects of violent crime ripped into yet another educational institution when gun-toting hoodlums killed a father of seven yesterday before three of his children, sending shockwaves through Tarrant Primary School in St Andrew and the adjoining community.
Three of Rohan Newman's young children - ages two, four and seven - as well as their mother witnessed the incident. A fourth child, who is six months old, will never get to know his father.
Newman, otherwise called 'Short Man', was reportedly hit at least four times before driving his vehicle, with his children and their mother inside, to a nearby open area where he collapsed and the car crashed. He was already dead when investigators arrived.
Newman was in the process of dropping off one of the children at the entrance to the primary school at about 7:45 a.m. when three gunmen reportedly pounced.
GIVING SUPPORT
Deputy Superintendent of Police Robblin Wedderburn told The Gleaner that Newman's children and their mother were taken to the Victim Support Unit after the shooting.
A team of trauma officers rushed to the school to soften the psychological blow the incident was sure to have on students.
The police monitoring the area said they had not yet established a motive for the killing.
Some family members, however, fidgeted nervously as they appealed to investigators not to release information on the deceased.
Meanwhile, grief counsellors will also head to Dunrobin Primary School today after it was thrust into mourning when one of its teachers was found dead at her home in Portsmouth, Portmore, St Catherine, yesterday.
Janice Atkinson-Reid, 32, who police believe was strangled, last spoke with colleagues Tuesday night.
Investigators were on the scene late last night, along with Atkinson-Reid's colleagues, including Dunrobin Principal Noel Watt and Vice-principal Barbara Reid.
Atkinson-Reid, a mother of two who had been at Dunrobin for nearly 10 years, was on leave of absence and scheduled to return on Monday.