Bog Walk terror
Published:Saturday | July 24, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator
AS THE Government continues to grapple with the horrifying incidence of murders, the country's murder toll moved closer to the 900 mark following Thursday night's quadruple killing in the rural district of Pleasant Hill in Bog Walk, St Catherine.
The gunmen struck about two hours before the state of emergency imposed on the parish and the Corporate Area came to an end.
Though the extraordinary powers enjoyed by the security forces under the state of emergency have come to an end, Police Commissioner Owen Ellington warns that there will be no let-up on criminals.
The lawmen were bolstered yesterday by six anti-crime bills, which are now in effect, to assist in tackling the crime problem.
Up to yesterday afternoon, checks by The Gleaner revealed that at least 890 persons have been murdered since January. The figure jumped from 873, reported by the police in their weekly crime report last week. The Gleaner also understands that 61 persons have so far been murdered in July.
According to police reports, nine persons, including three women, were killed between Tuesday and Thursday night in the communities of Linstead and Bog Walk, St Catherine.
The calm in Pleasant Hill was shattered after gunmen invaded a house in the community and shot five persons.
Fifth hospitalised
Dead are 40-year-old Raymond Williams, Audrey Thomas, 41, Kaneil Parks, 19, and Shereka Clarke, 21, who was visiting the family. Reports are that the fifth person has been hospitalised in a critical condition.
While police investigators are yet to establish a motive for the quadruple killing, The Gleaner has learnt that it could be a community conflict involving money.
"We are following a number of leads, but we are appealing to the residents to assist us. They can call Detective Inspector Paul Thomas at 984-9757 or me at 925-0198, or Operation Kingfish at 811," Detective Superintendent Wilford Gayle, the Area 5 crime officer, told The Gleaner yesterday.
A detachment of police personnel drawn from Area 5 headquarters, the Spanish Town Police Station and Operation Kingfish were kept busy yesterday combing the area for clues.