(Jamaica Observer) – Eleven people were murdered between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday, bringing to 33 the death toll for the first 12 days of this month, according to a tally of Constabulary Communication Network releases.
In the latest incident, 14-year-old Tashina Salmon and 57-year-old shopkeeper Ernest Jones, also called ‘Bones’, were shot dead at their homes in Caymanas Bay, St Catherine.
Residents blamed an ongoing dispute over control of a mineral spa in the community for the Easter Sunday murders. Police said Jones was attacked and shot by two gunmen near his shop shortly before 6:00 am. He was found lying in a pool of blood and was pronounced dead at hospital. He was shot in the face, neck and back.
About 30 minutes after Jones was killed, a group of gunmen invaded nearby premises and shot at the occupants, who ran for cover. Salmon, however, did not manage to escape and was held by the gunmen and shot several times, the police said.
On Sunday, although hundreds of persons converged on the spa – a natural pool in the Duhaney River – tension filled the air in the community as they reflected on the killings.
Several police vehicles could be seen rolling through the area, and a detachment of cops was deployed to the spa.
“We are here to head off any further threat of violence,” one policeman told the Observer.
Residents say the long-running dispute over who should control funds earned from admission fees to the spa had resulted in several shootings. However, Sunday’s double killing shook the community to the core.
“This thing is going on for a long time. People are carrying bad mind over this thing, but we are paying lease for the place so I don’t know what they want from us,” one of Jones’ sons said. “I know my father gave them money lots of times, and they still killed him,” he added. The property is owned by the government.
Residents said Jones was murdered by men from a nearby community known as Glade. They also told the Observer that two of Jones’ sons were shot and injured months ago during the ongoing dispute.
The police were kept busy elsewhere on the island where nine other people either lost their lives or were shot and injured in separate incidents.
On Sunday, two other persons, including an eight-year-old girl, were shot and injured over the holiday weekend. Police say the child was shot by men along a pathway in Waterford, St Catherine in the morning. On Saturday, Rowan Thompson, 31, was shot dead in Arnett Gardens, St Andrew and an unidentified man, who attempted to snatch a woman’s handbag on Lyndhurst Road, was mauled to death by an angry mob.
Four people were killed on Good Friday. They were identified as Craig Reid, also called ‘Phillip’ of Mount Salem, St James; 27-year-old Damion Edwards of Charlton Road in St Andrew; Dennis Montague of Gregory Park, St Catherine; and 15-year-old Mohamed Larmond of Olympic Gardens.
A fifth man was fatally shot by police at Old Harbour in St Catherine after he allegedly engaged the security forces in a shoot-out. A firearm was seized during the incident.
Police also report that the body of a taxi operator, who was reported missing since Tuesday, was found in a decomposed state at Mannings Hill in St Andrew on Holy Thursday. He has been identified as 55-year-old Fitzroy Johnson of Seaforth in St Thomas.
Homicide detectives were also probing the murders of 22-year-old Kevone Sommers of Old Harbour in St Catherine and 21-year-old Kerron Norine of Palmer’s Cross, Clarendon. Both were shot dead in separate incidents on Holy Thursday.
