WESTERN BUREAU:
ONE MAN was killed and four persons arrested and charged with illegal possession of fire-arm and ammunition, as well as illegal possession of and dealing in ganja, following two separate police operations in St. James on the weekend.
The operations resulted in the seizure of the parish's first AK-47 rifle and the largest ammunition haul since the beginning of the year.
The police reported that Roger Haughton was killed in a shoot-out with the police at his home in Irwin Heights, Montego Bay, yesterday morning. According to the Constabulary Communication Network liaison officer for St. James, Peter Salkey, the police went with a warrant to the home of Haughton, who was wanted by the Mt. Salem police on charges of illegal possession of firearm and assault at common-law.
The lawmen say they were greeted by gunfire and the fire was returned. Haughton, also known as 'Weed Head', was subsequently found suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead. A .380 semi-automatic pistol with 10 rounds of live ammunition was reportedly taken from him.
During the same operation, two other houses were searched and a home-made shotgun with two live 12-gauge cartridges was found. Three men, who reportedly live in the house, were arrested and charged. They are Livingston Ricketts, 26; Claude Lloyd, 25 and Donavan Hamilton, all of Irwin Heights.
In the other operation, which took place on Saturday afternoon, a man was arrested after a number of illegal items were found at his premises. The identity of the man has been withheld pending further investigations.
Constable Salkey reported that about 1:45 p.m. on Saturday, the police went to the man's home in Salt Spring with a warrant. During a search of the house, one Glock 26 9mm pistol with four rounds of live ammunition, one AK-47 rifle with two live magazines, fifty-seven 7.62mm cartridges, eighty 9mm, and nine Smith and Wesson cartridges were found. A bullet-proof vest, a full army fatigue, 27 packages of compressed ganja, 10 garbage bags of loosed (uncompressed) ganja, three buckets of hash oil and two motor vehicles were also seized by the lawmen.
Constable Salkey described the ammunition haul as the largest in St. James since the start of the year. "This is the most ammunition we found in the parish and the first rifle to be seized since the year started," he said.
