Force mourns promising young cop killed at wake in Kingston

Days ago, when a spiritual leader strolled between the zinc fences in the community of Frog City, St Andrew, trying to warn residents of dreadful violence that would soon befall the area, some persons reportedly threw water on her and chased her away.

“She did a point with di gun finger[s] ina di place and a fake shoot and dem wet up di woman and run di woman,” a female resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Gleaner on Sunday morning.

Now, that woman’s premonition seemingly came to pass during a wake on Saturday night along Ricketts Avenue in the Maxfield Park community, located metres away, which resulted in the killing of 21-year-old police officer from the Half-Way-Tree Police Station, Constable Brian Martin.

Martin received a gunshot wound to the head. Four other persons were injured in the attack, among them a 10-year-old.

According to police reports, Martin and the other injured persons were standing at the wake around 9:45 p.m. when they were pounced upon by unknown assailants. The five were taken to hospital, but Martin succumbed to his injuries on Sunday morning.

During a visit to Martin’s home yesterday, the yard in which he once lived with his mother and relatives was gloomy. The brother, cousin, nephew, and friend they loved and cherished would have celebrated his 22nd birthday on Wednesday, October 19.

At one point, the grief was overbearing for his mother, who had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.

Clifford Blake, acting deputy commissioner of police, who was on a tour of Frog City on Sunday, told The Gleaner that the immediate family was distraught and needed privacy to grieve.

“We are making arrangements with our medical services unit and our counselling unit to provide them with the necessary support,” Blake said.

He urged persons with information about the shooting to contact the St Andrew South Police Division or the Half-Way-Tree Police Station or Crime Stop or 911.

Marlon Nesbeth, senior superintendent of police, under whose division Martin was assigned, described the deceased constable as a young upcoming police officer who had a lot to contribute towards nation-building, which the perpetrators of the crime had deprived him of.

“He was committed to his job in the little space of time that we saw him. He was on a special team doing traffic management, and his level of output was very high,” Nesbeth told The Gleaner.

“We expected a lot from this constable, and he, too, based on his own development process, as young as he was, had set goals for himself that he would expect to achieve,” he said.

Martin went to the division in April with a batch of 21 others who will be given comfort, grief counselling, and support.

“He’s described by them as a very humble youth; someone who readily shares and cares; and someone who, from the other end where we are concerned, evaluated him, has worked very well,” Nesbeth said.