By Noel Thompson, Staff Reporter
Lawrence
WESTERN BUREAU:
ONE OF western Jamaica's most respected policemen, Detective Corporal Clive 'Karate Georgie' Lawrence, was shot and injured during a shoot-out with a gunman at Catherine Hall, Montego Bay, yesterday.
The man, Bryan Stone, alias 'Donovan Clovis and 'Bruno', 28 years old of Rose Heights, Montego Bay, was killed in the exchange of gunfire.
Corporal Lawrence was admitted at the Cornwall Regional Hospital last night suffering from gunshot wounds to the palm of his left hand and the right little toe.
"When mi see him start run, mi was running him down too, because mi did want to hold him. But when him turn around with the gun in hand, mi say 'yes, a it dis'. Mi know mi was going to get shot but mi never know where, so mi had to take him on," Corporal Lawrence said on his hospital bed.
Police say at about 3:45 p.m. yesterday Detective Lawrence was leading a patrol team into the Catherine Hall Housing Scheme when it saw Stone sitting on a wall.
The police said on their approach, Stone jumped off the wall and started firing at them. The first bullet he fired caught Corporal Lawrence in the palm while another bullet from the gunman's pistol penetrated Corporal Lawrence's shoe and damaged
his toe. While the lawmen were in pursuit of Stone, he ran inside a house.
During an ensuing gun battle, Stone was shot and a Firestar 9mm pistol with one live round was taken from him.
Stone was wanted by the St. James Police for questioning in connection with several cases of murder and shootings committed in the Rose Heights area. Police also branded him as the leader of the Branch Hall Crew, which has wreaked havoc in Rose Heights.
About an hour after the shooting, a massive crowd converged at the Madden's Funeral Parlour on Union Street to view the dead man's body. In the midst of the crowd, a woman, who identified herself as 'Kareen', and said she was an in-law of Stone's, condemned the killing.
"Fi mi God nuh partial. A go more weeping and mourning because him have him pickney dem a come," she said. Referring to Stone's brothers who were killed by gunmen over the past 14 months, she said; "Mi nuh have fi tek up fi dem because mi know dem."
An angry Kareen invoked "God's curse" on her brother's killer. "Visit dem God. Minutely and hourly. We all are one family created by God. We should love and protect each other. As a community we do not try to put together, we pull apart. Mi de go fight di battle pon mi knee because God is my redeemer."
Fifteen months ago, Stone's younger brother - Oneil Stone, was gunned down in the Rose Heights community while two weeks ago, another of the Stone's brothers - Hopeton, alias 'Banton', was also shot dead by gunmen, while walking along the Rose Heights main road. Police are yet to solve those murders.
Police have also shot and killed 17 persons in the parish since January.
