Granville protests fatal police shooting as St. James police file multiple charges

Protests and roadblocks gripped Granville, St. James, on Monday after residents learned that 45-year-old Latoya Buja Bulgan had been fatally shot by police the day before under disputed circumstances. Fire crews from the St. James division of the Jamaica Fire Brigade had already put out most of the fires by late morning, while a heavy police deployment led by Senior Superintendent Eron Samuels, the parish commander, remained on the ground. A team from the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), headed by regional director Warren Williams, also visited the scene.

Residents said Bulgan was killed without justification during an encounter on Sunday. Many described her as outspoken but argued she had been singled out after a heated exchange with officers following the controversial police killing of her 17-year-old cousin, T.J. Edwards, the previous Sunday. A female friend who was in the vehicle said Bulgan had joined a protest linked to Edwards’s death when police stopped her black Toyota Voxy. Officers asked for her driver’s licence; she produced a foreign licence, but police insisted on a Jamaican one, which she did not have. The friend said officers told Bulgan to exit. As she engaged the handbrake, the vehicle rolled slightly, then a shot rang out. “That was when I heard the shot and I saw her slumping backwards,” the friend said. “When we look out, I saw the policeman who she had an argument with when her cousin was killed with his gun still pointing in the vehicle. Buja didn’t do anything. She was murdered in cold blood.”

Community members voiced anger but said they feared retaliation if they spoke on the record or were photographed. Several also expressed distrust of INDECOM, citing slow progress on other cases. Williams urged witnesses to give statements so investigators could add context beyond circulating videos. Councillor Michael Troop, who represents Granville on the St. James Municipal Corporation, said he would provide a statement to INDECOM and urged others to do the same. He renewed criticism of Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s February 2025 warning to returning offenders that they would “meet a judge or your maker” if they broke the law, saying the remark had encouraged police to act without restraint.

In a separate matter, 39-year-old Angria Morrison, also known as “the Mantis,” of Providence Heights, St. James, has been charged in connection with a shooting in Hastings District, Trilani, last October. Morrison faces counts including shooting with intent, use of a firearm to commit a felony, unauthorised possession of ammunition, and common-law assault. Twenty-five-year-old Aran Marson, also called “Attender,” a construction worker of Histinya district, Trilani, was charged earlier over the same incident. Police said that at about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 18, 2025, a man walking along a roadway in Hastings District was allegedly attacked by Marson and Morrison, who reportedly brandished a firearm and fired at him. The man escaped unhurt and reported the matter. Marson was arrested and charged on Friday, October 24, 2025. Morrison was arrested on Saturday, May 9, and charged on Sunday, May 17, after an identification parade. He is due before the Western Regional Gun Court in St. James on Monday, July 13.

Police in St. James have also charged Richard Denny, 43, of Dome Lane, and Tyrone Murray, 23, also known as “Alex,” a construction worker of Johns Hall, with membership in a criminal organisation linked to incidents in Hanover, St. James, Trilani, and Manchester between June and September 2025. Investigators allege the men were involved in robberies, shootings, and larceny. Both were held after an operation and remain before the courts, with dates being set.

Meanwhile, 44-year-old car salesman Adrian Cop, also known as “Adri Cob,” of Portmore, St. Catherine, has been charged with fraudulent conversion and breaches of the Consumer Protection Act after complaints in December 2020. Portmore police said that on one occasion Cop took $400,000 as a down payment for an overseas vehicle that was never delivered and was not refunded. In another case, a woman paid $210,000 and US$800 toward a vehicle from the United States that likewise never arrived. Cop was formally charged after a question-and-answer session in the presence of his attorney; his court date is being finalised.