At least 13 persons were murdered in Jamaica over the past 36 hours in a blood-curdling crime wave spurred by marauding gunmen across the island.
In Westmoreland, two females, 45-year-old Sophia Brown and 63-year-old Bernie Lewis, both of Long Hill, White House in the parish, were gunned down at a business place at about 2:10 pm by two men posing as customers. The men pulled firearms and shot the women before escaping.
The women were taken to hospital where they were both pronounced dead.
In St Andrew, the bodies of 25-year old Dejon Campbell and Kamal Forbes, otherwise called ‘Jolly man’, both labourers of Nine Miles, Bull Bay, St Andrew, were found at a riverside in the parish on Wednesday, January 12.
Reports from the Bull Bay police are that about 8 pm on Tuesday, January 11, residents heard explosions and summoned them.
Upon their arrival, nothing was seen, however the law enforcers returned to the area at about 6:40 am on Wednesday and found the bodies at the riverside with what appears to be gunshot wounds.
On Wednesday at about 2 am, 29-year-old Shane Spencer, a labourer of Roehampton district, St James, and 16-year-old Toni-Ann Reid, a student of the parish, were shot and killed by unknown assailant(s) in the St James community.
Reports from the Anchovy police are that they were summoned by resident who reportedly heard explosions. Upon their arrival, Spencer and Reid were found in a house with gunshot wounds all over their bodies.
They were taken to the hospital, where death was confirmed.
No motive has been established for the fatal attack.
St James notably recorded a triple murder earlier this week.
Forty-year-old Marlon Spencer of Goldsmith Villa in August Town, St Andrew was shot and killed at his gate by unknown assailants on Wednesday at about 5:45 pm.
Also, 63-year-old Carlton Knight, a retired firefighter of Longsville Park, Clarendon, was shot and killed and two other persons shot and injured along Washington Boulevard in St Andrew on Wednesday, January 12.
Reports from the Hunts Bay police are that shortly after 9 pm, Knight and two other persons were travelling in a motor vehicle when they were pounced upon by armed men traveling in a white motorcar.
The men opened gunfire at Knight’s vehicle, hitting all three persons inside the unit.
The injured persons were taken to the hospital, where Knight was pronounced dead.
The other injured persons are being treated for their injuries.
A 21-year-old chef, Dimitri Dawson, otherwise called ‘Dimi’, of Bread Lane in Paradise, Norwood, St James, was shot and killed at about 3 pm on Wednesday.
Reports are that Dawson was standing at a bar along Bread Lane when he was approached by two men.
The men opened fire, hitting Dawson multiple times before making their escape from the area.
The Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), the information arm of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), has also reported a murder in the Kingston Western Police Division on Thursday morning, and a double murder in the St Andrew South Police Division. No details were released on these murders up to early afternoon on Thursday.
A Child was also murdered in St James on Thursday morning following the reported robbery of a motorcar, with the mother of the child being since placed in protective custody amid a probe into the development.
According to police statistics, 37 persons were murdered in the first eight days of the year, a figure which represented a 32 per cent increase in murders when compared with the corresponding period last year.
