Couple slain at home

Sheena Gayle, Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:

"None of us is safe," muttered Patrick Lawson, speaking in disbelief at the news that his close friends and church family members Milton and Georgette Jackson were brutally slain at their home on Friday night.

"Boy, I don't know, I don't know," Lawson said as he clawed for words to explain his shock at the horrific news.

Milton and his wife, Georgette, both 37 years old of Childremas Glades, St James, were at their home when they were gunned down. Residents reportedly heard loud explosions coming from the couple's home about 10 p.m. and called the police.

The Jacksons were found on a blood-soaked bed inside one of the bedrooms. Mr Jackson had four gunshot wounds to his body while his wife had two gunshot wounds, stab wounds and cuts to her lower body.

A group of men were later seen in a bus owned by Mr Jackson in the community, but fled from the vehicle into nearby bushes before the police arrived in the community.

Avid sportsman

Lawson remembered the last conversation that he and Mr Jackson had earlier on Friday.

"He is an avid sportsman and he played football. We were at Dump Up Beach (in Montego Bay) and before the football match, we prayed and I said that "I hope as we play we have respect for each other". Those were the last words I said to him," the distraught church brother revealed.

"The slain couple were active members of the Mount Salem Open Bible Church. Mr Jackson was the past youth president of the church and actively participated in the sports ministry through football.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, two alleged gunmen were shot and killed in Tucker in Montego Bay on Friday night during an intense gun battle with police.

The dead men have been identified as 19-year-old Davion Haughton, also known as 'Kino', and 18-year-old Kenroy Brown, otherwise called 'Silence', both of 29 District in the same community.