Police investigate Westmoreland killing as weekend deaths and national policy disputes dominate news

Police in Westmoreland are investigating the fatal shooting of 30-year-old Jason Wright in the Akondon area of White House on Friday afternoon. Residents reported hearing several loud explosions believed to be gunshots shortly after 4 p.m. Wright was found along the roadway with multiple apparent gunshot wounds, taken to hospital, and pronounced dead during treatment. Officers from the White House Police Station are working to identify those responsible.

In Negril, police have opened a probe into the death of 78-year-old American visitor Reginal Turner, who died while swimming on Friday morning. Turner, who lived in Florida, had arrived in Jamaica on 16 June for a birthday vacation and was staying at the Negril Palm Resort. He entered the water around 9 a.m.; minutes later he was found floating and was pulled out by a hotel lifeguard. He was pronounced dead at a medical facility, and investigators are treating the matter as a suspected drowning.

Also in the west, 30-year-old Carlos Ba, a power plant operator from the Dominican Republic who had been working in Jamaica and living at Stone Brook Manor, died in a crash near the Ocean Point Housing Scheme intersection in Lucea, Hanover, on Friday after midday. Police said he was travelling from Montego Bay toward Lucea in a Nissan AD wagon, attempted to overtake another vehicle, lost control, and collided with an oncoming car. The incident brings Hanover’s road fatalities for the year to 20.

In St. Thomas, Deputy Superintendent Roan Richie told the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Force for Good podcast that murders, shootings, and other major crimes are trending down this year. He credited stronger community partnerships and public support for the gains.

Financial Investigations Division Chief Technical Director Dennis Chung said the first charges have been laid under Jamaica’s Micro Credit Act, which regulates micro lending and targets unlicensed financial services.

The Jamaica Labour Party defended the government’s decision to sign a third-country national agreement with the United States, joining roughly 30 countries in similar arrangements. Communications Chairman Senator Abka Fitz-Henley JP said the administration had been careful not to accept people with criminal records or active criminal involvement. His remarks followed PNP President Mark Golding’s statement that he would not have rejected the United States’ request, which Fitz-Henley said exposed hypocrisy given opposition criticism of the memorandum of understanding.

The Right Shift Foundation, led by executive director Kevin Wallen, is working with the Jamaica Constabulary Force in inner-city communities to encourage men to take greater responsibility as fathers and role models. Wallen said practical outreach with police and other stakeholders could deliver immediate support where it is needed most.

Police suspect a white Toyota Noah that crashed and burned on the PJ Patterson Highway on Saturday, killing both occupants, was the getaway vehicle used in an early-morning break-in at a Redbank, St. Elizabeth business. About $1.5 million in cash and more than $2 million in goods, including alcohol and cigarettes, were reported stolen; broken bottle debris resembling stolen items was found at the crash site.

Controversy erupted after reports that some Ascot Primary School students in Portmore who performed poorly on Primary Exit Profile exams were barred from wearing gowns at graduation. The education ministry condemned the move; the principal apologised according to public reports, though Lieutenant Colonel Paul Scott, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Infant and Primary Schools, said the principal told him he did not apologise and stood by a policy agreed with parents and the school board to raise standards.