(Jamaica Observer) – Seventeen persons were killed over the Christmas weekend, including six on Christmas Day, police reported.

Of the six killed on Christmas Day, four were slain in double murders. The 11 others were either murdered, killed by police, drowned or perished in road collisions.

In the first double murder, Andre Hamm, 31, also known as “Baby Wayne” and O’Neil Brown, 40, also called “Police”, both of Sunrise Crescent, Kingston 19 were gunned down in their communities around 8.30 am, a few metres from each other.

About 15 minutes later the bodies of Ronald Howard, also known as “Scarly” and O’Neil King, alias “Banana Man”, were found on a roadway in Canaan Heights, May Pen, Clarendon with gunshot wounds. In other incidents, on Christmas Day Neil Gordon, 29, was killed by police after he allegedly attacked a member of a police party with a broken bottle.

According to police report, the lawmen were on patrol at Westmeade, when Gordon was seen smoking marijuana, a policeman tried to hold Gordon who reportedly attacked him and was shot.

Ricardo Anderson, 27, a security guard of Milford Road, Ocho Rios, St Ann was found with multiple stab wounds in a ditch in his community.

Another three persons were reportedly killed by gunmen in three different parishes. They have been identified as Leroy Beckford, 19, also known as “Butter’, of Portmore Lane, St Catherine, Tafari McKenzie of Hart Street, Montego Bay, St James and Christopher Gardener, 35, a farmer of Darliston, Westmoreland.

Beckford and McKenzie were both found with gunshot wounds in their communities on Boxing Day, after residents reported hearing explosions in the area and called the police.

Gardener was killed while on his way home from a dance in the area with a female companion.

Two persons were also reportedly killed in stabbing incidents.

O’Neil Artwell, 17, of Fern Ground, Mt Carey, St James was killed in a dispute with patrons at a dance in the community. Another 17-year-old male was also injured and was admitted to hospital in serious condition, while John McFarlane, a conductor of George Street, Kingston, was killed by a passenger following an altercation with passengers who allegedly refused to pay their fares on a bus along Balmoral Avenue in Kingston on Sunday.

Franklyn Cornwall, 70, of Marine Park, Portmore, St Catherine and Adrian Brown, of May Pen, Clarendon, also reportedly drowned in a river at Mount Hindmost, Claren-don and Hellshire Beach, Portmore, St Catherine respectively on Boxing Day.

In the road accident which occurred on Sunday at about 6.30 am, Damon Levy, 20, and Ryan Salmon, both of St Catherine addresses, died in a vehicular collision on Crescent main road, Spanish Town. O’Neil Brown, 23 of Third Street, Rema, Kingston, was killed by police during a shoot-out with law enforcers at the intersection of Myers and Thompson Streets in Kingston 12.

It is reported that police officers were on patrol on Myers Street when they saw two men firing shots. The lawmen tried to apprehend the men but they fired at them and during an exchange of gunshot Brown was killed. The other men escaped.

A 3.57 magnum revolver containing one .357 cartridge was taken from Brown and seven .357 cartridges were found in his pocket.