The number of persons detained relative to Sunday’s deadly mass shooting in Clarendon has now risen to five, Acting Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey has said.
This is while a prime suspect was fatally shot by members of the security forces in a reported confrontation hours after Bailey spoke.
According to Bailey, the brutal attack was linked to a longstanding feud between Jamaicans criminals overseas, and was sparked by a dispute over ill-gotten gains which has its roots in six pervious violent incidents in Clarendon.
Eight persons, including a seven-year-old boy and three women, were killed, while nine other individuals, including a baby, were left nursing bullet wounds from the gun attacks in the Cherry Tree Lane community in Four Paths, Clarendon.
In providing an update on the probe into the incident at a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on Wednesday, Bailey said the “brutal” and “indiscriminate” crime has left the nation in shock and grief.
According to him, the police’s response to the crime has been swift and impactful.
“We have since seized an illegal firearm, and have apprehended at least five persons,” Bailey informed, adding that the latest detainee “turned himself in yesterday (Tuesday).”
He said the probe has made significant progress, revealing the connections to six previous violent incidents in Clarendon.
These incidents include:
1. A quadruple murder in Havana Heights in 2021.
2. A murder committed on April 21, 2024.
3. A shooting and arson that was committed on April 25, 2024 in West Park.
4. A murder that was committed on April 29, 2024 in Cherry Tree Lane.
5. The killing of an individual which occurred on May 11, 2024, along Foga Road outside of May Pen in the parish.
6. The murder of an individual on May 15, 2024 in York Town.
Bailey said the police’s findings indicate that the local violent incidents have “international roots”, and incorporated local players, some of whom are incarcerated.
“These individuals who once were friends in Jamaica, had a falling out in the United States over illegally obtained gains, leading to each taking homicidal contracts to insight fear and terror,” the senior lawman stated.
Bailey elaborated that, “Criminal actors in prisons were contacted to facilitate these contracts through their criminal networks, resulting in the senseless bloodshed here in Jamaica.”
Bailey, whose substantial role in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is Deputy Commissioner in charge of the crime and security portfolio, said the police remain committed to removing all who were responsible for the tragic mass shooting incident from the streets.
“It is important that we isolate those who are responsible wherever there are, and to offer our public the level of safety and assurance (that are) needed,” he said.
At the same time, Bailey said the police are mindful of the likely reprisals that could take place in several areas within and outside of Clarendon.
The Government has since declared a state of emergency (SOE) for the parish in a bid to stem any such reprisals.
