Half-Way Tree Road shooting kills company bearer after $10 million bank visit

KINGSTON, Jamaica — On Friday afternoon a bearer on duty for a widely used financial institution was mortally wounded in an attempted robbery on Half-Way Tree Road, St Andrew.

The slain man was 68-year-old Lawrence Kessna of Phase 2, Seaview Gardens, St Andrew. He had been grappling with an armed attacker who was trying to take company cash he carried, the police account states.

Assistant Commissioner Michael Phipps, who commands the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Area Four division, extended condolences to relatives, friends and business partners affected by the homicide and said the organisation roundly denounces the attack. "We will not allow criminals to turn our commercial centres into hunting grounds. My instructions are for sustained high visibility operations across the space which will serve to disrupt, deter and apprehend the persons who are likely to perpetrate these acts," Phipps said.

He noted that financial hubs would rank among the priority patrol zones while detectives gather evidence, study forensic findings and liaise with the business sector and other agencies. "We continue to urge business operators to ensure strong security measures when transporting especially large amounts of cash. The JCF continues to alert and advise persons doing large financial transactions and transporting large sums of cash to contact the police who are more than willing to assist, free of charge and I repeat free of charge," he added.

"Your safety remains our priority, and as such we will increase our operational activities in these areas, and in the meantime I want to urge calm, but also vigilance, especially in and around our financial institutions, including our ATMs," Phipps continued.

"The JCF remains committed to restoring order and public confidence. We will not relent until those responsible are held," he said.

Early reports state that around 1:22 pm Kessna went to a bank to cash a $10 million cheque for his employer. The sum was slated to be handed out to customers from several places.

Outside the branch a man tried to grab a grey knapsack containing the money. The pair struggled; unable to secure the bag, the robber fired, striking Kessna in the upper body. The shooter then rode away on a motorcycle that had been waiting nearby.

Officers rushed Kessna to Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), where physicians declared him dead. The knapsack was handed over to the police at the hospital.