Tweet
Police last night reported there had been a staggering 26 murders across the island since the start of the year, exactly twice as many as had occurred by January 5 last year.
Crime fighters in St. James were kept busy between Wednesday night and yesterday morning as gun violence erupted in sections of the parish claiming the lives of four men.
A fifth person, a woman who was found dead in a car park at the Sangster International Airport, is suspected to have been strangled.
The incidents have pushed St. James' murder figure to six since 2007. A total of 178 persons were killed in the parish last year, 39 more than in 2005.
The murderous rampage began at Four Roads in Hendon, Norwood, where police found an unidentified man about 8:00 p.m. with multiple gunshot wounds. He is said to be about five feet-nine inches tall, of slim build and dark complexion. The deceased was wearing a blue jeans pants and a black and white T-shirt.
Almost 10 hours later, 35-year-old Roy Anthony Henry was gunned down on Blood Lane, Glendevon, as he washed his motor car.
Attacked by gunmen
Investigators say Henry was attacked by gunmen about 5:30 a.m. and shot. He ran into a nearby yard where he was chased and shot several more times by his killers.
Fifteen minutes later, in Mount Salem, there was a high-speed chase and gun battle involving armed men in three vehicles, one of which was being driven by Kenrick 'Biggs' Depass.
On reaching the vicinity of the Mt. Salem Open Bible Church, Depass, a 23-year-old resident of Granville, received gunshot wounds.
A Hawkeye security patrol car, which inadvertently drove into the shooting, was fired on by a group of men in a Toyota Corolla car.
Tereshova Taylor, a 33-year-old guard of Flankers and Catadupa addresses, was hit. He died later while undergoing treatment.
Depass' body was subsequently found metres away at the intersection of the Mount Salem main road and Clarke Street.
Later that morning, 25-year-old Debbie Warren, of a St. Catherine address, was found dead in a bus at the Sangster International Airport. Police say an anonymous caller alerted them to the body, which had blood coming from the nose.
At press time, police were interrogating a man they picked up in relation to the incident.
Body found in Black River
Meanwhile, the decomposing body of Clive Maxwell, 49, of Burnt Savannah, St. Elizabeth, was found in Black River.
Yesterday, Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, at the swearing-in of judges to the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, held at King's House in St. Andrew, warned the promoted judges to brace for a violent year.
The Chief Justice said the judges should be prepared for an active time in the courts in the days ahead.
"Those of you who are coming in to act, I ask you to bear in mind that the demands upon your time will be greater," he said. The Chief Justice added that "as crime increases you will be required to work much harder than you have worked before".
Crime fighters in St. James were kept busy between Wednesday night and yesterday morning as gun violence erupted in sections of the parish claiming the lives of four men.
A fifth person, a woman who was found dead in a car park at the Sangster International Airport, is suspected to have been strangled.
The incidents have pushed St. James' murder figure to six since 2007. A total of 178 persons were killed in the parish last year, 39 more than in 2005.
The murderous rampage began at Four Roads in Hendon, Norwood, where police found an unidentified man about 8:00 p.m. with multiple gunshot wounds. He is said to be about five feet-nine inches tall, of slim build and dark complexion. The deceased was wearing a blue jeans pants and a black and white T-shirt.
Almost 10 hours later, 35-year-old Roy Anthony Henry was gunned down on Blood Lane, Glendevon, as he washed his motor car.
Attacked by gunmen
Investigators say Henry was attacked by gunmen about 5:30 a.m. and shot. He ran into a nearby yard where he was chased and shot several more times by his killers.
Fifteen minutes later, in Mount Salem, there was a high-speed chase and gun battle involving armed men in three vehicles, one of which was being driven by Kenrick 'Biggs' Depass.
On reaching the vicinity of the Mt. Salem Open Bible Church, Depass, a 23-year-old resident of Granville, received gunshot wounds.
A Hawkeye security patrol car, which inadvertently drove into the shooting, was fired on by a group of men in a Toyota Corolla car.
Tereshova Taylor, a 33-year-old guard of Flankers and Catadupa addresses, was hit. He died later while undergoing treatment.
Depass' body was subsequently found metres away at the intersection of the Mount Salem main road and Clarke Street.
Later that morning, 25-year-old Debbie Warren, of a St. Catherine address, was found dead in a bus at the Sangster International Airport. Police say an anonymous caller alerted them to the body, which had blood coming from the nose.
At press time, police were interrogating a man they picked up in relation to the incident.
Body found in Black River
Meanwhile, the decomposing body of Clive Maxwell, 49, of Burnt Savannah, St. Elizabeth, was found in Black River.
Yesterday, Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, at the swearing-in of judges to the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, held at King's House in St. Andrew, warned the promoted judges to brace for a violent year.
The Chief Justice said the judges should be prepared for an active time in the courts in the days ahead.
"Those of you who are coming in to act, I ask you to bear in mind that the demands upon your time will be greater," he said. The Chief Justice added that "as crime increases you will be required to work much harder than you have worked before".