MoBay deputy mayor demanding SOE for St James after schoolboys shot dead

Deputy Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon is calling for the imposition of a state of public emergency in St James following Monday's shooting death of three persons, including two primary school boys, in a taxi.

Vernon, the Jamaica Labour Councillor for the Montego Bay South division in the St James Municipal Corporation described incident as a "terrorist act".

"To think there is a conflict and the best way to solve it is by shooting up public transportation. That is a terrorist act. Attacking public transportation and killing two children," he said.

"People keep asking what the Government is doing about this senseless killing, but I say to you, a number of things have been done."

States of emergency allow the security forces, or authorised persons, enhanced powers of search and arrest and limit the right of detained persons to due process.

Justin Perry, seven, and his nine-year-old schoolmate Nacholive Smith, of Chetwood Memorial Primary, and a man who remains unidentified, were shot and killed by gunmen while travelling in a taxi at around 6 p.m. near Meggie Top in the Flower Hill area.

In an address to the school community this morning, principal Garvin Atkinson called the killers "wicked men". He said parents may collect their children although classes have not been formally dimissed.

"We're in anguish this morning because we would have lost two of our, I call them babies... two of our boys, who were well-behaved, who gave no trouble and even if they were giving trouble, they are still our boys...," he told a gathering of students, staff and parents.

In a statement earlier, Prime Minister Andrew Holness condemned the killings, saying when children are attacked, all of society "must stand up and say, 'enough is enough'". 

Holness lamented that the response to "criminal terrorists ...must also contend with a narrative that oftentimes seems to offer greater protection to criminals with lighter sentences and preservation of their lives and freedoms, rather than supporting stronger punitive, proactive, and pre-emptive measures against these terrorists while securing redress and restoration for the victims". 

The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) through its junior Spokesperson on National Security Jouvaughnie Byfield said "more must be done" to protect children.

Byfield expressed confidence in the capacity of the security forces to address the situation effectively but stressed the importance of allocating additional resources to high-crime divisions like St James.

The administration has faced backlash from rights groups and the PNP over its use SOEs in routine crime fighting, the pursuit of certain measures in relation to the constitutionally-guaranteed bail and the imposition of mandatory sentences for certain crimes.  

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