Teen, man injured in separate St Thomas shootings

The Seaforth community in St Thomas has been rocked by a spate of shootings over the last 24 hours.

Since Saturday night, three incidents took place in the community within the span of three hours.

The first, which occurred at 7:32 p.m., involved a 29-year-old man who was shot and injured in the vicinity of Blacksmith Lane.

It is reported that he was in his motor vehicle at the back of his premises when several loud explosions were heard.

Following checks, it was discovered that he received several gunshot wounds to his right upper arm.

The man was rushed to the Princess Margaret Hospital where he was admitted in stable condition.

Less than 10 minutes later, a 17-year-old Morant Bay High School student was shot in his right knee around 7:40 p.m.

It is reported that the student, who is also a resident of the community, was in his yard along with other family members when several loud explosions were heard.

The teen boy received a gunshot wound.

He was rushed to the Princess Margaret Hospital where he was treated and subsequently released.

And around two hours later at 9:45 p.m., a police team assigned to the St Thomas Operation and Support Unit came under fire near the Coke Methodist Church.

It is reported that the team was on mobile patrol in the Seaforth area when four men were seen in the cemetery of the church.

Two of the men were allegedly armed with rifles while the others reportedly had handguns.

Upon seeing the police team, the men reportedly opened fire, which was returned by the cops.

So far, it is not known if any of the gunmen were injured.

However, no member of the police party received injuries during the incident.

It is not clear whether the three incidents are connected.

The shootings follow the grisly July 11 murders of 50-year-old Denise Bell and her partner 41-year-old Germaine Jeffrey in St Thomas.

A day earlier, national junior footballer Jedine Carr, 18, and taxi driver Andrew Mullings were gunned down.

The parish has seen a 62 percent increase in murders, while shootings are down by 14 per cent.

- David Salmon

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