Ex-cop among two killed in Clarendon Saturday night

Patrons, vendors, and taxi operators were sent scampering for cover after gunshots rang out in the busy May Pen capital on Saturday night, leaving one man dead.

Christopher Ricketts, otherwise known as 'Rico' or 'Rico T', a 37-year-old juice and snack vendor of Chapelton Road in the parish, was found with gunshot wounds upon the arrival of the police. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Ricketts is reported to be a former member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

The incident took place shortly after 10 p.m. along Sevens Road in the vicinity of the clock tower and within range of the closed circuit television (CCTV) system in the capital.

Shortly after, investigators were called to another scene a short distance away on Bryant's Crescent. This time, 20-year-old Romario Fearon, also known as 'Romeo', was found dead at his home at about 1:15 a.m.

The police have since commenced their investigation into both shootings, but, up to yesterday, were yet to establish a motive in either case.

At last week's resumption of the monthly sitting of the Clarendon Parish Council, mayor of May Pen Scean Barnswell announced that the town's CCTVs were working and confirmed that there was full surveillance of the town centre and surrounding areas, including the areas where the killings took place.

He explained that the system had been out of service because of a software problem, but was now up and running, having witnessed a demonstration when he visited the monitoring centre recently.