Erica Virtue, staff reporterAfter a woman was killed and a man's throat was slashed in Spaldings, Clarendon, yesterday, hundreds of residents from the area vented their anger at the police in that town. In a bid to take the law into their own hands, they demanded the release of the four men taken into custody in connection with the incident and a number of crimes committed in the area.
The Sunday Gleaner correspondent in the area said yesterday that the Spaldings police fired shots on the large crowd of more than 1,000 who converged on the station, demanding the release of the men.
In the confusion that followed the shots a CVM cameraman Paul Byfield, and another unidentified man were shot.
CVM's Milton Walker said Mr. Byfield was shot in the side of the face and was taken to the Spaldings Hospital where he was treated and sent home.
The correspondent said information reaching him was that the residents had also set ablaze a vehicle which was driven by the men, which was seized by the police and parked at the station.
According to the correspondent, one of the men implicated is said to be an ex-policeman, but he was moved from Spaldings and taken to another station.
The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) said reports reaching them indicate that the four detained men had slashed the throats of two persons resulting in the death of a woman.
The duty officer said the crowd demanded that the police hand over the men to them.
He could not confirm that the crowd had stoned the station demanding the release of the detained men.
The name of the dead woman and the injured man could not be ascertained up to late evening.
