Police shootings, barrel death and cash seizure reported across Jamaica

Jamaican police and oversight investigators were dealing with several major crime scenes this week, including four men killed during a police operation in St. James, seven fatal police shootings across three parishes on Tuesday, the discovery of a missing Manchester woman’s body, and an alleged cash-smuggling case at Sangster International Airport.

In Mandeville, 72-year-old Primrose Hall, who had been reported missing since Sunday, was found dead at her Grace Hill Close home about 10 a.m. Wednesday. Police said relatives and friends found her face down in a closed barrel during a search, and detectives cordoned off the area while processing the scene.

In St. James, a father and son were among four men shot dead Wednesday morning during a police operation near the Retirement disposal site. Police reported recovering two firearms after the shooting at a quarry beside the facility, but the exact sequence of events was not yet known. Two of the dead were named as 57-year-old Brian “Teis” Faircloth, a tractor operator who lived and worked at the quarry, and Brian “TJ” Faircloth Jr., who was employed there as a watchman. A resident disputed claims of a gunfight, saying the men repeatedly told police they had no weapon. Tashi Faircluff, identified as TJ’s wife, called for justice and said their children were badly shaken.

The St. James deaths followed a bloody Tuesday in which seven men were killed in police operations in St. Catherine, St. Andrew and Clarendon. Police said the deadliest incident began about 1:40 p.m. in Bog Walk, St. Catherine, where officers reported coming under fire. Four civilians died, and a policeman from Linstead was injured. A later related operation near GC Foster College in Spanish Town about 5:30 p.m. left another man dead. Police said three firearms were seized in the St. Catherine incidents, and the Bog Walk Gorge corridor was closed for hours.

Earlier Tuesday, Orlando Nemar was fatally shot during an alleged confrontation with police in Crofts Hill, Good Hope, Clarendon. Police said a .38 revolver with five cartridges was recovered. In Land, St. Andrew, another unidentified man was killed after police said a vehicle passenger opened fire; officers reported seizing a Luger 9mm pistol and nine rounds. INDECOM was notified of all seven killings. As of June 9, the agency was probing 143 fatal security-force shootings for the year.

Separately, St. Elizabeth businessman Shaun Walker, 34, of Crawford District, was charged after authorities said US$270,580 was found hidden in 28 sealed bath-soap boxes in his luggage after he arrived from New Jersey on a United Airlines flight on June 7. He was charged with possession and concealment of criminal property and failing to report cash movement, remanded, and is due in the St. James Parish Court on June 16. FID official Keith Darian and Jamaica Customs investigator Castell Dunlay both cited the case as evidence of the need for strong port-of-entry checks and interagency cooperation.