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Six Killed As Gunmen Go On Rampage In Western Parish

Security Minister Peter Bunting (centre) in discussion with Rev Knollis King (right), councillor for the Rose Heights Division, St James at the spot where two people were murdered Thursday night. The security minister toured the parish following six murders between Thursday night and yesterday morning. Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Ferguson (third right), was among members of the minister’s touring party. (PHOTO: ANTHONY LEWIS)
Security Minister Peter Bunting (cen­tre) in dis­cus­sion with Rev Knollis King (right), coun­cil­lor for the Rose Heights Division, St James at the spot where two peo­ple were mur­dered Thursday night. The secu­ri­ty min­is­ter toured the parish fol­low­ing six mur­ders between Thursday night and yes­ter­day morn­ing. Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Ferguson (third right), was among mem­bers of the minister’s tour­ing par­ty. (PHOTO: ANTHONY LEWIS)

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Security Minister Peter Bunting rushed to St James yes­ter­day 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 yes­ter­day 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 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.
Story Originated here: Six killed as gun­men go on ram­page in west­ern parish