Six members of family murdered in Jamaica

-lottery scamming seen as motive

Errol Mangaroo, the father of Byron Mangaroo being comforted by a family friend.
Errol Mangaroo, the father of Byron Mangaroo being comforted by a family friend.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The National Security Minister, Peter Bunting has revealed that Thursday night’s murder of six family members in Hanover is linked to the infamous lottery scam.

Four other people were injured, two seriously.

According to Bunting, the continued killing of individuals, many of them innocent victims of lottery-related conflicts, is destroying the society.

“This morning’s heinous crime shows that scamming not only affects those who participate and directly profit from it; but those who associate with them even where those associations are distant,” he said.

A senior citizen, her two children, two grand-children and another man were shot Thursday night before their house was set on fire on Campbellton Road in Logwood near March Town, Hanover.

The murder victims:

Lynette Mangaroo-Broomfield, 62

Kerry-Ann Bloomfield, 36

Mark Broomfield, 40

Alliah Mahabee, 17

Davian Mahabee, 15

Brian Mangaroo, 29

“This price is too high, and as a society we must put a stop to this evil practice before it destroys our country, family by family, community by community,” Bunting said in a statement yesterday afternoon following his visit to the crime scene.

 

He said the entire country was being affected by lottery scamming.

“We are paying for it with the precious lives of innocent citizens, men women and children.

We have seen where elderly persons and the very young are being targeted, not because they were directly involved in lottery scamming, but because persons with whom they were associated were involved in this illegal activity,” he said.

According to Bunting, the security forces have been working consistently to prevent these “senseless” acts of violence but need more support from members of the affected communities to reject the culture of violence and to provide the police with actionable information to bring the offenders to justice.