WESTERN BUREAU:

St. James was the bloodiest parish last month, recording a total of 29 killings compared to eight for the comparative period in 2005.

The western parish was followed by the St. Andrew South Police Division, which accounted for 21 murders.

Police statistics revealed that 136 persons died violently across the island in November.

This represented 11 more than the figure for the previous month and an increase of 14 over November 2005.

No motives established

The gun was featured in 106 of the homicides, which include 21 females and nine children.

No motives have been established for more than half the 136 murders, while the remainder was attributed to either being drug or gang related, domestic violence and other criminal acts.

The police were called to the scene of eight double and two triple murders, as well as one quadruple killing.