Portland community rocked by double killing

A daring early morning double killing in the community of Shrewsberry, Portland, has pushed the parish's murder rate into double figures.

The gruesome killings this morning come less than eight hours after high-ranking officials from the police hierarchy, the Ministry of National Security, members of parliament, the business community, and other stakeholders met at the Ken Wright shipping pier in Port Antonio to review the increase in major crimes affecting law abiding residents in arguable the island's most peaceful parish, and to come up with solutions.

But while that meeting was deemed a success, the lives of Garfield Foster and Kenton Myers were snuffed out by gunmen just few hours later. The bodies of the men were found riddled with bullets along a heavily populated section in the rural community.

Police sources have revealed that both men, who are residents of Shrewsberry, were walking along the roadway minutes after 3a.m. Sunday heading to a wake, after returning from a dance in the area.

According to the police, the two were pounced upon by unknown assailants, who shot them multiple times, killing them on the spot.

The police also recovered 10 spent shells at the crime scene.

The lawmen have theorised that Myers was killed in a act of reprisal, as he was allegedly involved in a physical confrontation with a woman some time ago, who hit him in the face with a bottle.

The police say that a man, who is believed to be the child's father of the woman, is being sought for questioning as it is widely speculated that he contracted the services of gunmen from the Enfield area to carry out the brutal act.

The gruesome incident brings to 12 the number of persons killed in the parish since the start of 2016. This is compared to eight recorded last year at this time, the only parish that recorded a single digit in murders islandwide.