Six killed over five hours on Thursday

Hoodlums wreaked havoc over a five-hour period last night leaving six people dead in three parishes, police records have revealed.

The mayhem started at 4:45 p.m. in St James and ended at 10 o’clock with a double murder in St Thomas, pushing the number of murders recorded in Jamaica this year close to the 1,300 mark.

This is the second time this week that the police have recorded six murders in less than 24 hours.

Yesterday’s deadly rampage began when Oshane Downer, a 20-year-old farmer of Bellfont and Catadupa in St James, was shot dead by unknown assailants in Catadupa Square.

The St James community of Granville was the scene of the second killing one hour and fifteen minutes later.

According to the police, 28-year-old painter Odane Coke was shot and killed by unknown assailants along Gordon Crescent.

Since the start of the year, the St James Police have recorded over 145 murders, a 47 per cent increase when compared with the corresponding period last year.

By 7 o’clock, investigators in the St Andrew South Police Division were called to McDonald Place where the body of Richardo Whyte, also known as ‘Rickey’, 34, was found.

He too was shot by unknown assailants, the police said.

The division leads the nation with over 165 homicides since January 1.

This is a 12 per cent increase when compared with the similar period last year.

The mayhem shifted to the eastern end of the capital city one hour and twenty minutes later when 21-year-old Leron Dunkley was shot dead by an unknown assailant at his Wild Street home.

It ended 40 minutes later in the eastern parish of St Thomas where two still unidentified men were shot dead in the community of Easington.

Murders are down 13 per cent in St Thomas when compared with the corresponding period last year.

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