(Jamaica Observer) Residents of Windsor Heights in Central Village, St Catherine, on Friday challenged claims by the police that the four men killed by them in the community died in a gun battle.
The residents are claiming that the men — 17-year-old graduate of Jamaica College Tyrone Reid; Dwayne Johnson, 29; Mario ‘The Devil’ Gabbidon; and Delano ‘Jermaine’ Pinnock — were killed in cold blood.
“Three of the men were coming from dance in a vehicle and the police wait until them reach to a spot in the community and shoot up the vehicle,” said a female relative of one of the slain men.
Another woman, who asked not to be named out of fear, claimed that the teen was not killed with the other men.
“The teenager youth was not in the vehicle. He was in his house when the police them shoot up the car with the men. It was after the police stop the vehicle them kick off the door to the house where the youth was. That was where he was shot and killed,” the resident claimed.
The police had reported that the four — whom they say were wanted for several crimes in and around the Corporate Area — were killed during a shootout with members of the Area Four Special Operations Team.
According to the police, the men opened fire on them after refusing to stop the vehicle in which they were travelling.
A member of the police team that went in search of the men was reportedly shot and injured. His condition was not known up to press time last night.
Police said that three firearms and several rounds were recovered from the men.
On Friday, Reid’s father, Lester, wept openly as other residents gathered at the scene of the incident.
The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has opened up a probe into the incident. The hands of the policemen who participated in the operation were swabbed, according to INDECOM.
