Bloody weekend - Toll moves to 656

JUST HOURS AFTER Prime Minister P. J. Patterson and Opposition Leader, Edward Seaga agreed to the formation of a national committee to fight crime and violence, communities across the Corporate Area were again rocked by a series of murders.

At least 10 people died by violent means between Friday night and yesterday, according to reports from the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN).

Based on police statistics, the murder rate is shaping up to exceed 1,000 if the current figure holds steady for the remaining 20 weeks of 2001.

The PNP` s Region Three on Saturday denounced the killing of two of the civilians one from Denham Town and the other from Wilton Gardens (Rema) who it said were not involved in any way in the present (West Kingston) conflict.

The region is appealing to the local community leaders and the police to do all that they can to bring this conflict to an end and for the communities and their combatants to recognise that the ` last lick` mentality cannot work if they genuinely want peace, chairman, Paul Burke, said in a statement.

The killings in West Kingston were part of a general upsurge of violence in the Corporate Area this weekend. On Friday night, 47-year-old farmer, Errol Jackson, otherwise called ` Foxy Locks` , of Gordon Town, St. Andrew, was shot dead outside a bar in the area. Later that night, a 14-year-old Cumberland High School student was also murdered. Rason McKoy, known as ` Shacka` , a resident of Portmore, was stabbed in the face during an altercation with two men along Barton Road. He later died in hospital.

On Saturday, when most of the murders occurred, 18-year-old Jermaine Brown, alias ` Piggy Blue` of Greenwich Town, Kingston 13, was shot dead by two gunmen as he walked along West Avenue at about 5:30 a.m. In what police suspect was a reprisal for Brown` s murder, some four hours later, Richard Pang, 28, was murdered by gunmen on Metcalfe Road, Kingston 13.

Tabetha Francis, 23; Ian Lacey, 25; Boswell ` Captain` Wilson were also killed in separate incidents. The wave of violent deaths surged higher yesterday with what police say was another reprisal for the murder of Jermaine ` Piggy Blue`
Brown the day before. Clover Kent, a 47-year-old higgler lost her life after being shot in the forehead and left breast by a lone gunman at the back of her home at Greenwich Town, Kingston 13, yesterday morning.

Two men were also shot dead after reportedly engaging police in a shoot-out at Nelson Road, Kingston 13, yesterday. The body of 30-year-old Carlene Sterling of Sackville Road, Vineyard Town, was found on the compound of the Alpha Boys School early Saturday morning.

The latest official murder figures from the CCN indicate that up to August 12, there were 634 reported homicides, compared to 547 for the same date in 2000, and 562 in 1999.

But at least 22 other murders have been reported since August 13, putting the current murder figure at about 656.

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