Cop 'fought to the end'
Published:Monday | August 2, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer
Tears cascaded down the faces of friends and family at Langston Road in Rollington Town, St Andrew, where Special Corporal Jermaine Cummings, who was murdered in the wee hours of yesterday morning, had lived.
According to reports from the Constabulary Communication Network, Cummings was entering his home about 4 a.m. when he was pounced upon by armed assailants who shot him.
Cummings returned fire, killing one of the attackers. The policeman was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead, bringing to nine the number of law enforcers murdered since the start of the year.
The 33-year-old policeman is the second cop to have his life snuffed out by gunmen in less than a week.
Mourners who gathered at Cummings' home yesterday found it difficult to come to grips with the gruesome incident.
His distraught sister, Suzette Cummings, said she ran to her brother's aid when he shouted for help.
"I heard a barrage of shots, then I heard him call out my name. So I looked through the window and I saw him wrestling with the boy (gunman)," she disclosed.
"I ran out and called out for help and then called the police. I am in shock because him never deserve such death. I don't know how I am going to cope," she added.
But in the midst of her grief, she boasted of the bravery her brother showed up to the time of his death.
"My brother got six shots and he didn't give up. He fought for his life to the end," she said.
Another of the slain policeman's siblings, Alfanso Robinson, struggled to vent, his voice cracking as he spoke.
"He was a good youth. He was my baby brother and we always sit and reason about life," he said.
Harman Barracks, where Cummings was assigned up to the time of his death, was heavy with sadness as colleagues grieved.
Inspector Maurice Channer said Cummings' slaying robbed the force of a hard and dependable worker.
"He was very jovial, someone you can speak to, no matter what the circumstances were, and he was always on his job properly attired," he told The Gleaner.
More tributes
Police Commissioner Owen Ellington described the killing as a despicable act of cowardice which should be condemned by all Jamaicans.
The fact that two police officers have been slain in the last week is verification that the criminals have not desisted from their lives of crime," he said.
Acting commandant of the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF), James Golding, also expressed dismay.
"The entire police family is in mourning, as the murder ... is yet another grim reminder of the hostile and challenging environment in which officers of the law have to work and the risks police officers have to face in the performance of their duties," Golding said.
Opposition Spokesman on National Security, Peter Bunting, strongly condemned the homicide.
Bunting added: "The People's National Party is saddened that on Emancipation Day, when the nation commemorates the full freedom of our forefathers from their slave masters, there are still elements of our society which remain enslaved to lawlessness and the ways of the gun," said Bunting.