Jamaica policewoman murdered

(Jamaica Observer) The Marine Park Community in Portmore, St Catherine, was still shell-shocked yesterday, following Friday night’s brutal murder of Special Constable Ariana Henry of the Harman Barracks.

Henry, 23, was shot at her gate in what her uncle, Victor Williams, described as a shoot-out with gunmen shortly after 8:00 Friday. She had been a member of the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) for three years, he said.

Williams, who was at home with Henry and her mother on Friday night, said the young cop met her death minutes after she went outside to speak with a visiting male colleague.

The colleague, Williams said, parked outside Henry’s gate on Darien Drive, and as they stood talking, a dark-coloured Toyota Corolla motorcar drove up with her killers aboard.

Williams said that one of the occupants immediately sprung from the car and started shooting. That’s when Henry’s colleague responded, firing back at their attacker, he explained.

But the damage had already been done. “She was shot in the abdomen. They said that her liver and a main artery that carries blood to the heart were also damaged,” he said, relaying an unofficial report from doctors who tried to save his niece.

One of Henry’s attackers was also shot in the abdomen, Williams added. He dropped his weapon — a Bryco Arms 9 mm pistol, police later said — and limped toward the slow-moving getaway car.

No one knows the extent of his injuries, but residents reported seeing the gunman’s legs hanging from the vehicle as it sped from the crime scene, its headlamps off.

Police said he later turned up for treatment at the same hospital where Henry was taken. He was identified and arrested.

Williams said that he and Henry’s mother stood nervously behind their fence as the events unfolded. It was not clear whether Henry’s colleague fired at the gunmen’s car, but as other residents gingerly left their houses to investigate, all attention turned to the injured Henry, Williams explained.