(Jamaica Observer) The St James police have launched a massive manhunt for a group of brazen gunmen who, in an attempted robbery Tuesday night, ensnared a truck along the busy ‘elegant corridor’ and sprayed it with bullets, seriously injuring the three occupants.
The lives of the three might have been saved by the gallant truck driver who sped from the attackers and sought refuge at the Coral Gardens Police Station.
According to the Freeport police, about 8:55 pm, the truck was travelling in the vicinity of Barrett Town when it came under heavy gunfire from men travelling in a motorcar.
The truck was still believed to have been transporting a large sum of money.
Up to late last evening, the bullet-riddled truck was parked on the grounds of the police station.
Tuesday’s incident is the second to have been reported in the second city since the start of the year.
In March, a security guard and a driver were gunned down on Jarrett Lane in a dramatic, suspected multimillion-dollar heist by heavily armed men who intercepted the marked security company vehicle they were using to escort a minibus.
The deceased, both of St James addresses, were identified as 61-year-old security guard Canute Earle of Norwood, and 41-year-old driver Floyd Wilson of Rosemount Garden.
A usually reliable Jamaica Observer police source revealed that the truck is owned by the same company whose minibus was targeted and robbed in March.
Tuesday night’s incident comes, coincidentally, as a state of public emergency is in progress across the parish, and a day after the St James Municipal Corporation, in collaboration with the police, undertook activities aimed at restoring and maintaining law and order in Montego Bay.
The initiative, dubbed ‘Operation Restore Paradise’, is scheduled to last one week, and involves other agencies including the Ministry of Health and Wellness, National Solid Waste Management Authority, Island Traffic Authority, Transport Authority and the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard.
States of public emergency were announced for the parishes of Westmoreland, Hanover and St James on Tuesday, April 30.
