Police probe Manchester crash, Portmore killing and other incidents in Jamaica news roundup

Police across several parishes are investigating a series of incidents reported on Thursday, July 2, 2026, including a two-vehicle crash in Manchester that left a constable in hospital, a fatal shooting in Portmore, an armed home invasion in St. Mary, and multiple criminal charges now before the courts.

A constable attached to the Mandeville Police Station remains in hospital after a crash on Hatfield main road in Manchester about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Police said a team of four officers was responding to a report of a prowler when the service vehicle collided with a BMW motor car. All four policemen and the BMW's three occupants were taken for treatment. Three officers and the three civilians were treated and released, while the injured constable stayed in hospital in stable condition with a broken leg and multiple bruises.

In St. Mary, police are looking for two gunmen after a home invasion in Bacchus Wood, Islington, about 2:00 a.m. Wednesday. Investigators said a masked gunman kicked in the door of a one-bedroom house occupied by a 59-year-old painter and opened fire, hitting him in the hand. The man tried to flee but encountered a second masked gunman. He raised an alarm and both attackers ran off. He was later taken to hospital.

In another case, 23-year-old chef Kenny Kenrick Schooler of Manley Lane, Naggo Head, Portmore, was shot dead at his home. Residents reported hearing explosions like gunshots about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and called police. Officers found spent shells at the entrance and later discovered Schooler inside a one-bedroom concrete structure with what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the upper and lower body. He was pronounced dead at Spanish Town Hospital, and police said no motive had yet been established.

Police also charged 33-year-old Demar Ryan Pennington, a bar operator from Tremolesworth district, St. Mary, with forcible abduction, rape and robbery with aggravation. Investigators said a 43-year-old woman met him on Tinder in early April, then arranged to meet him on Hagley Park Road on April 25. She reported that he drove her to Portmore, threatened her with a handgun, took her to a motel on Port Henderson Road and raped her before later robbing her and leaving her in St. Andrew. He was arrested in June, placed on an identification parade, positively identified and then charged after a question-and-answer session.

Meanwhile, St. Catherine motorist Oscar Simpson was fined $100,000, or one month in prison, after pleading guilty to using indecent language in court shortly after he had been fined in a traffic matter. In Manchester, 26-year-old Christian Baker of St. Toolis was charged with simple larceny after police alleged she used a stolen JN Bank card to make two unauthorised ATM withdrawals totalling $80,000 in May Pen between November 2, 2025 and May 27, 2026. She is due in the Manchester Parish Court on July 15.