Old Harbour, St Catherine (Jamaica Observer) - The police on Wednesday morning shot dead three men in an alleged gunbattle, which lasted for approximately half-hour, in the quiet, upscale New Harbour Village in this busy town.

Two of the men were identified as 20-year-old Cornel Boyd, otherwise called “Soapy”, and Ricardo Campbell, 29, who goes by the alias “Ricky”. The identity of the third man was not ascertained.

Two 9 mm pistols and six rounds of ammunition were allegedly taken from the men. The police also said they found a quantity of marijuana in the house.

According to the police, Boyd and Campbell – who both hailed from the tough Grant’s Pen community in St Andrew – were wanted for the murders of Michael Moo Young and Devon Evans who were killed along Morgan’s Lane, also in the community, on October 2.

The lawmen said the men “were cornered by an operational team from St Andrew North” at approximately 5.30 am yesterday. The men allegedly opened fire on the police who took evasive action. The alleged shootout lasted for approximately 30 minutes and when the dust settled, Boyd, Campbell and the unidentified man were found suffering from gunshot wounds. The three were pronounced dead at hospital.

Dozens of spent shells littered the yard of the ill-fated house. Inside, blood was splattered throughout the house.
Outside the gates, worried residents, who had converged on the scene, looked on in despair.

“[When I heard the gunshots I] was petrified because the estate is really quiet. We had no idea that criminals were living among us,” a female resident remarked.

“I am glad. Really happy that police kill them before they take up permanent residence here and kill us all and bring their friends to massacre us. Criminals are not good for the area. We are a quiet community and we don’t want neighbours like these around. I hope others of their ilk… others like them who have intentions to hide out down here take this as a warning. They are not welcomed here and their ending will go just like these three. We are very serious about that,” an enraged man declared.