By Adrian Frater, News EditorWESTERN BUREAU:
ANOTHER POLICEMAN, Detective Inspector Rupert Gardener, was shot dead by gunmen in Montego Bay yesterday afternoon, the second in less than a week.
Late last night policemen rushed to the Mount Salem area of St. James in pursuit of a man said to be the prime suspect. They said he engaged them in a shoot-out but escaped.
Tears flowed in Montego Bay yesterday as police personnel and civilians alike mourned the death of the popular policeman.
Reports are that Gardener, 38, who was the officer in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department at the Montego Bay Police Headquarters, had gone to the Westgate Plaza about 2:20 p.m. to transact business when he was trailed into a cambio by two gunmen. On the inside of the building, one of the men reportedly opened fire, shooting him in the head.
As the wounded lawman fell, his attacker stole his service revolver and fled the building. On exiting the building, the gunman fired several shots into the air and then he along with his crony escaped into the nearby Westgate Hill area. Detective Inspector Gardener was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"He was a young man with a lot of promise and he definitely had a lot to offer to the force," said Superintendent Ivan Brown, the community relations officer in charge of the Western Region.
As news broke that Gardener had died, scores of residents from the Mt. Salem area, where the Cornwall Regional Hospital is located, rushed to the facility, joining weeping members of the force as they all huddled together in mourning along the corridor of the Casualty Department and outside the hospital building. When Sharon Gardener, the wife of the murder cop, arrived at the hospital at approximately 4:20 p.m., she was immediately ushered into the Casualty Department by her husband's colleagues. After viewing the partially covered body of her husband, her piercing screams echoed through the building.
At about 5:00 p.m., there was a scramble outside the hospital as policemen rushed off to their vehicles. News had come that a suspect in the shooting was spotted in the Westgate Hills area and was being pursued.
Last Wednesday, Detective Sergeant Edmond Brown, 45, was shot dead by gunmen after he and another colleague attempted to apprehend hold-up men in the Bog Walk community of St. Catherine.
The Police Federation yesterday condemned Gardener's murder, saying, "Yet again, another family is grieving at the loss of a loved one whose life was snuffed out by elements who serve to make no valid contribution to our social well-being..."
The Federation said it would be striving hard to serve and protect the people of this country. "With 401 murders in 161 days, our task is made that more difficult," they said.
Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips also expressed shock and regret at Gardener's death and also assured that "the police will spare no resources in bringing Inspector Gardener's murderers to justice."
