MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP):
A POLICE officer shot and killed a man who threatened them with a machete in northwestern Jamaica, authorities said Monday.
Two officers were on patrol Sunday in the upscale Coral Gardens section of resort town Montego Bay when they saw a man shouting and waving a machete, police spokeswoman Camille Tracy said.
"He was told to drop the machete by the policemen, but he refused," Tracy said. The 44-year-old man started swinging the machete in their direction and the two officers began to run backward and one of them fell, she said.
The man, identified only as "Tru Tru", started to attack the officer on the ground with the machete and the policeman shot him in the chest, police said. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The officers, who were not injured, said they found a crack cocaine pipe in the man's possession, Tracy said. The man was arrested once on drug-related charges, fined and released, but it was not clear when, police said.
Police officials have suspended the two officers from front-line duty as authorities investigate the shooting.
Jamaica has one of the highest per capita levels of police shootings in the world, according to Amnesty International. Police killed 113 people last year, down from 133 in 2002, authorities said.
