By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReporterJUST BEFORE he left for work on Monday morning, Damion Mitchell told his grandmother Cislyn Davis goodbye twice.
It was as if the 19-year-old labourer knew it was the last time he would be seeing her.
As fate would have it, it was.
Mitchell was among three men who were murdered by two gunmen in Linstead, St. Catherine, on Monday night. The police have identified the other two men as Donovan Rhooms, a 38-year-old Christian and Calvin 'Lego' Khani, 41.
"It was the first morning since Damion started to work that he told me he was leaving," an emotional Miss Davis told relatives and friends yesterday in Linstead.
MINITUES BEFORE
Mitchell's mother, Angella Kerr, said that minutes before her son was killed, he and a group of friends were playing dominoes at a shop on East Avenue in the town. "I understand that he got a call on his cellular phone and immediately went to the intersection of Grove Road and East Avenue where he saw Khani and Rhooms. A short time later gunshots were heard," Miss Kerr said.
Speaking with The Gleaner last night, head of the St. Catherine North Division, Superintendent Wrenford Robinson, said that based on preliminary investigations, the police are following a number of strong leads. "We have since increased patrols in the area and are maintaining a strong presence," said Superintendent Robinson.
But according to a group of residents, it is believed that two of the victims were at the wrong place at the wrong time. It is alleged that the gunmen came directly for one of the three men.
Residents also claimed that their community had been quiet and peaceful for decades. Some believe that Monday night's triple murder might have something to do with a shooting last Friday in which a man, who fled from the Spanish Town area, was shot and killed by the police.
The deaths of the three men have cast a pall of gloom over the town of Linstead. Yesterday, a fair-sized crowd filled the front yard of Khani's home. One of Mitchell's aunt identified only as 'Doreen' burst into shouts, crying out for her nephew.
Meanwhile, one of Khani's cousins got into a bout of spiritual wailing which grabbed the attention of those nearby. Mr. Khani was a father of six and his common-law wife is now in an advanced state of pregnancy.
Members of the Rhooms family said their relative, Donovan, who got baptised about six months ago, and who was mentally challenged for 23 years, met his untimely death just as he was in the process of overcoming his illness.
GUNMEN STRUCK
Reports are that he had just finished his day's work at a nearby grocery shop and was having a snack when the gunmen struck. Reports are that Mitchell and Khani died on the spot, while Rhooms, who made several attempt to speak, died at the Spanish Town Hospital.
More than 900 persons have been murdered since the start of the year. Nearly 120 of these have been killed in this month alone.
