MONTEGO BAY, St James (Observer) — Security Minister Peter Bunting rushed to St James on Friday for a hastily arranged tour following a bloody 24 hours in the crime-hit parish during which six people were shot and killed.
Bunting, following the tour, told reporters that more police personnel would be deployed in St James by the end of the week to help combat crime in the western parish, which the police believe is being fuelled by the ongoing lottery scam. Curfews are also to be imposed in sections of the parish by the police.
The touring party included members of the Jamaica Defence Force and Police Area One, headed by Assistant Commissioner Paul Ferguson, and other members of the top brass of the St James Police Division.
Five of the deceased have so far been identified. They are:
* 62-year-old Phillip Campbell and his nephew, 42-year-old Kevin Campbell, both of Matches Lane, Rose Heights;
* 42-year- old craft vendor Elizabeth Joy Robinson, of Ocho Rios, St Ann;
* 42-year- old David Dilbert, of Norwood in the parish; and
* 31-year-old Patrick Williams, also of Norwood.
The latest killing took place at 4:45 on Friday morning when Robinson was shot in the head by a gunman while she was preparing to set up craft items for display at the Harbour Street Craft Market. A man who was shot and injured during the attack was taken to hospital where he was admitted.
Two hours before that, Campbell and his nephew were shot and killed by gunmen at their gate as they drove home with a female companion.
The woman, police said, managed to escape unhurt.
Meanwhile, about 9:45 on Thursday night residents heard explosions in the Norwood community following which Williams and Dilbert were found suffering from gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead at hospital.
More than 120 murders have been reported in the St James Police Division since the start of the year, making it one of the bloodiest of the country’s 14 parishes.
