(Jamaica Gleaner) MONTEGO BAY, St James — Homicide detectives were last night working feverishly to make a breakthrough in the brutal murder of 51-year-old gas station manager Michael Small, who was gunned down at his Porto Bello residence is St James on Thursday night.
“We are working hard on it. The matter is getting very, very serious attention,” a senior police official who is close to the investigations told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.
The police reported that about 7:30 pm Small was pounced upon by three heavily armed men, shortly after he alighted from his pickup truck which he had parked minutes before in his driveway.
Small reportedly received multiple gunshot wounds all over his body and was taken to the nearby Cornwall Regional Hospital, where he died while undergoing treatment.
The killers escaped on foot.
Residents living in close proximity to Small’s posh home told the Observer that they heard a barrage of gunshots and loud screams coming from the vicinity of the house.
“We heard about 28 shots fired from high-powered weapons and loud screams from Mrs Small (the widow) and his cousin, who were in the house during the brutal attack,” said a neighbour.
When the Observer visited the house yesterday, several of Small’s family members, as well as close friends, sat quietly on the verandah, as they tried to come to grips with the gruesome killing.
Small’s widow, Arlene, as well as his two sons, were too distraught to speak with the Observer, but an elderly man, who said he was Small’s brother-in-law, spoke glowingly of him, adding that family members were “taking it hard”.
