Police shooting overshadows quiet election day in Spanish Town
Published:Thursday | September 4, 2025 | 3:29 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
Voting across the Spanish Town constituencies passed without major incident on election day, but a noticeably low turnout and a fatal police shooting in McCooks Pen combined to cast a pall over the day’s proceedings.
From the opening of the polls, electoral officials noted a trickle of voters that signalled early on that participation would be weak. Across St Catherine West Central, St Catherine Central, and St Catherine South Central, the atmosphere was subdued, with little of the usual election day buzz on display.
That atmosphere shifted sharply in the afternoon when 32-year-old Fabian Brown, a Jamaica Broilers employee and McCooks Pen resident, was shot dead during what police described as a running gun battle with armed men.
Residents, however, rejected the police account and accused them of killing an innocent man.
“Fabian is not involved in any wrongdoing. He is a decent, hard-working man. They murder him, just as him go vote and come back and was getting ready to celebrate,” said one man, who claimed he was nearby when the incident began.
“We under the tree a cook for later and we hear a whole heap a shot. When mi look, him see it was police coming from down the lane firing the shots. Everybody start to run and take cover, and Fabian got shot in him foot and drop,” said another resident. He further alleged that Brown, after falling, was shot multiple times while on the ground.
Police reported that their officers were fired upon by gunmen and that Brown was wounded during the exchange before being transported to Spanish Town Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Independent Commission of Investigations and the Constabulary’s Inspectorate have since launched probes into the incident.
The shooting left a sombre mood across McCooks Pen, even as supporters of incumbent Andrew Wheatley of St Catherine South Central had prepared for victory celebrations.