Man dies after police shootout in stolen-car chase through West Kingston

A man was pronounced dead at the Kingston Public Hospital on Sunday afternoon after police said a pursuit of a reported stolen motor vehicle through Kingston ended in a shootout in West Kingston.

Officers said they responded about 3:00 p.m. after the vehicle, reported stolen several weeks earlier, was seen along Spanish Town Road. When they ordered the driver to stop, the vehicle sped off and a chase followed. The pursuit ended on Remanded Place in West Kingston, where the occupants allegedly left the car. Police alleged the men then opened fire; officers returned fire. A man with gunshot wounds was later found in a nearby gully and taken to hospital, where he died. His identity has not been released. The Independent Commission of Investigations has been notified, and the matter remains under investigation.

In a separate matter, Hunts Bay police reported that two men were arrested after a Glock 21 .45-calibre pistol and a magazine holding six .45-calibre rounds were seized during a joint police-military operation about 10:45 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at Third Street and Third Avenue in Greenwich Town, St. Andrew. A vehicle was stopped, both occupants searched, and the firearm found on one of them. Their names have not been released.

Audian Kinglock, a 25-year-old taxi operator of Lacey District, Stony Hill, St. Andrew, has been charged with robbery with aggravation, possession of a prohibited weapon and assault at common law. Police said that about 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 19, Kinglock and masked accomplices confronted patrons at a bar in the parish, pointed a firearm at them, took their belongings and fled on foot. He was arrested on July 22 and charged on July 24 after a question-and-answer session with his attorney present. A court date is being set.

Hanover police have charged Andre Hemans, a 21-year-old construction worker, with the alleged rape of a young girl. They said that about 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 12, he entered a dwelling, took the child into a room and sexually assaulted her. A family member reportedly raised an alarm; he fled and a report was filed. Hemans was taken into custody on Tuesday, July 21, positively identified on an identification parade and charged. He is due before the Lucea Parish Court on Monday, July 27.

Michael Williams, 32, of Spanish Town, St. Catherine, was granted $500,000 bail on Friday on a charge of unlawful possession of property after police stopped a car in Spanish Town on July 17 and found its chassis number had been altered. Attorney Earl Hamilton told the court his client had nothing to hide and did not know of any illegal work on the vehicle. Senior parish court judge Desiree Allain ordered him to report to the Bog Walk police three times a week. The case is next listed for October 6.

Separately, the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s 2025 Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica reported a recidivism rate above 27 per cent, with 153 inmates readmitted in the review period — 149 of them male. Twenty-nine prisoners were back for a fourth time and 19 for a third; 78 were readmitted once and 26 twice, while one inmate’s recurrence level was unknown. The survey also recorded 531 inmates in educational programmes and 541 in vocational training.