Police urge gas station shooters to surrender after Negril crash injures six

Police are urging three men connected to the shooting of a gas station attendant on Deanery Road on Wednesday to surrender immediately at Hunts Bay station. Officers say the same suspects are linked to a series of robberies in the Corporate Area.

CCTV footage shared on social media shows a light-coloured sedan arriving at the station between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. A passenger passed money to the attendant through a vehicle window; after she opened the fuel tank and turned away, three men got out and a scuffle followed. One man appeared to point a gun at the woman before shoving her backwards. She collapsed out of frame and was taken to hospital for treatment.

In a statement on Friday, police asked anyone with information to contact Hunts Bay Criminal Investigation Branch at 876-923-7111, the emergency 119 line, Crime Stop at 311, or the nearest police station.

At least six people were injured, two seriously, in a three-vehicle collision on Norman Manley Boulevard in Negril Wednesday afternoon. The Negril branch of the Jamaica Fire Brigade responded at 12:59 p.m. and found a Toyota Coaster bus carrying hotel workers, a Toyota Corolla Fielder, and a Toyota Voxy involved in the crash.

District Officer Raphael Tennant said several victims had already been taken to hospital by bystanders. One man with suspected spinal or hip injuries was placed on a spine board and transported to a private hospital; a woman was also seriously hurt. Three other injured women were able to sit or stand, and the bus driver was also rushed for care. Tennant said the Negril fire station ambulance was out of service for mechanical repairs, complicating the response until police and a private hospital ambulance assisted.

Twenty-five-year-old Jamaican Deondre Markland has been charged with the murder of Trinidadian businessman Sterling Francois, 45, whose bloodied body was found inside his home on June 20. Markland, arrested on June 26, was charged on July 4 following legal advice from Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard. He appeared in court earlier this week; the matter was adjourned to October 30.

A relative who went to check on Francois after unanswered calls found the front door closed but unlocked, blood-stained footprints inside, and Francois lying face down, naked, and covered in blood at the top of a staircase. Investigators recovered a machete believed to be the murder weapon and a plastic cup suspected to have been used by the killer. Police established that Francois returned home about 8:40 p.m. on June 19 with a male companion after leaving earlier in his black Chevrolet Colorado pickup. The visitor was reportedly seen leaving shortly after midnight with a knapsack before boarding a brown 4x4 pickup. Relatives reported missing items including Francois's iPhone, laptop, PlayStation, and wallet.

The Jamaica Bar Association has backed Supreme Court staff in downtown Kingston who say they fear for their safety and have lacked a working canteen for about five years since closure over reported fire-hazard concerns on King Street. In a Tuesday release, President Tanesha T. Watkins called on Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake, and Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation Chairman Andrew Swaby to secure the court compound, remove unauthorised persons, and restore food service for staff.

One employee, speaking anonymously, said, "Added to the canteen issue, members of staff have to navigate the unsafe court surroundings which is littered daily with the people of unsound mind and only feel relieved once they have entered the court building. The other day a man punched a down a member of staff out at the front. Another member of staff was spat on one morning. There was one occasion where a man pulled a machete to attack one of the cleaners outside of there. We had been speaking and it has been falling on deaf ears. So, we are asking the Minister of Justice and the Commissioner of Police to intervene."