Two Jamaican police officers and three men died after a Sligoville operation. INDECOM is now investigating the shooting.
Two Jamaican police officers and three men were killed after a confrontation during a police operation in Sligoville, St. Catherine, and the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) is examining how it unfolded.
Corporal Trevoy Shaw died Friday. Constable Devoney Rose, 19, was shot in the head and died Saturday morning at the Spanish Town Hospital. The three men killed were identified as Errol Hussey, 51, his son Malik Hussey and Javaughn Cogle. The Police Federation said four members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force died in seven days.
According to police, members of the Special Operations Branch went into the area around 5:15 a.m. Friday searching for a high-risk target. They said the officers came under gunfire from men believed to be associates of the target, who had barricaded themselves inside a house. At some point the men indicated they wanted to surrender, police said, and one brought a 10-year-old girl to the doorway. When two officers approached to retrieve her, they were fired on and critically wounded, according to police. The girl was also shot, and police believe she was used to lure the officers closer. Police Commissioner Kevin Blake said the men were given a chance to surrender and that gunfire also came from surrounding areas during a lengthy standoff. He said Saturday the girl is in critical but stable condition. Police said they recovered a rifle and a 9mm pistol at the scene.
Some residents dispute the police account. A friend of the Hussey family told the Sunday Gleaner he spoke with Errol Hussey shortly before 7 a.m. Friday, and Hussey told him police had surrounded the house and were firing into it. Another resident said he was on the phone with Malik Hussey during the shooting and that Hussey repeatedly shouted to police that he and Cogle were unarmed and only one person inside had a firearm. The resident said Hussey told him he could not come out because police were firing at the building. A television crew that visited the house saw what appeared to be hundreds of bullet holes in the walls and roof of several rooms, and spent shell casings inside and outside. Several residents said they want to see the evidence before accepting the police account. Some described Errol Hussey as a hardworking man who sold sand and gravel, while another resident said he had previously seen Hussey with what appeared to be a handgun and did not know whether it was licensed. None of these accounts has been independently verified.
INDECOM said more than 70 service weapons belonging to the police and the Jamaica Defence Force, along with the two recovered firearms, have been photographed, boxed and sealed pending ballistic examination. Jamaicans for Justice said it is awaiting INDECOM’s findings, including how the child was caught in the gunfire.
Blake urged officers not to let the tragedy define how they operate. He said the force’s high command stands behind them and that they should remain relentless. Prime Minister Andrew Holness has directed the force to intensify operations targeting gangs. Councillor Dwight Burke urged residents to support law enforcement and share any information that could help investigators.
Information for this report was provided by [broadcaster], the Sunday Gleaner, the Jamaica Gleaner and the Jamaica Observer.