KINGSTON, Jamaica – A 24 hour curfew has been imposed in the Corporate area community of Denham Town in the volatile West Kingston area after six people, including a 13 year-old girl, were killed late yesterday.
Director of Communications at the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Karl Angell, said the six were killed during a “running and intense gun battle involving the police and criminals”.
The police said three of those killed were wanted for various crimes in the Kingston Western and Kingston Central divisions, including murder and shooting with intent.
Angell said “the other three persons, including the lone female, are believed to have been killed during the course of the gun battle” and that four weapons – an AK-47 assault rifle, a .357 revolver, a 9mm pistol and a .22 pistol had been recovered.
However, the police report has been dismissed by the angry residents, who claim that the six were killed in cold blood.
As a result, a team from the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has visited the area to process and collect forensic evidence. The agency’s Chief Forensic Examiner, Hector Cammock said that officers involved in the police exercise would also be interviewed.
The police said four of the six killed have been identified, with three of them known only by the aliases. They include an elderly man known as “George” and “Tete Rass” and Kiro”
The JCF is advising members to use all necessary force to protect themselves, their families, colleagues and government properties, particularly in the central parish of St. Catherine and Clarendon and the western parish of St. James. (CMC)
