Five Killed In St Catherine Police Operation As INDECOM Probes Bog Walk Shootout

Five alleged gunmen were shot dead in St. Catherine on Tuesday afternoon during police operations that also left a policeman injured. Four men were killed during an exchange of gunfire between police and armed men in the Bog Walk Gorge, while a fifth alleged gunman was later killed near GC Foster College. The gorge was closed after the first shooting, causing heavy delays on other routes, including the North-South Highway. The Independent Commission of Investigations is probing the incidents.

In the Home Circuit Court in Kingston, defence lawyers for six policemen accused of murder began cross-examining a ballistics expert from the Government Forensic Laboratory on Monday. The questioning followed Justice Sonya Bertram-Linton's refusal of prosecutor Kathleen Pike's request for the expert to take a spent casing back to the lab to determine which firearm fired it.

Attorneys Hugh Wildman, John Clarke and Arthur Grant-Coke opposed the application, arguing that the casing had no evidential value because the accused men had not denied firing during the alleged January 12, 2013 shootout on Acadia Drive in Barbican, St. Andrew. Matthew Lee, Ucliffe Dyer and Mark Allen were killed in that incident.

The expert said he did not visit the scene or collect evidence there, but handled the firearms and ammunition after a detective submitted them to the lab. He said some casings were not linked to a specific firearm, while one spent casing matched an Arcus 9mm pistol. The accused are Sergeant Simroy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton, and constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose and Richard Lynch. Fullerton also faces a charge of making a false statement to INDECOM.

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz also said he was awaiting a report on a Venezuelan Conviasa aircraft diverted to Jamaica on Saturday. The airline said passengers on the Cancun-to-Maiquetia flight faced more than eight hours of uncertainty and inadequate assistance. Vaz said the aircraft stopped to refuel and that fuel services are handled by private operators at Norman Manley and Sangster international airports, not the Government. Conviasa blamed unspecified ground-service failures and said it would pursue the matter before national and international authorities.