Jamaican police kill 5 men as department criticized for surge in fatal shootings
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/07/2025 (455 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Police in Jamaica say they have filled five men suspected of plotting to kill someone as the department on the Caribbean island comes under fire for a surge in fatal shootings.
Authorities said in a statement late Monday that police were investigating an alleged murder plot that led officers to the location where the men were shot. The shootings occurred Monday afternoon in St. Andrew parish, where the capital, Kingston, is located.
“Officers came under heavy gunfire and responded to the threat to their lives,” police said.
Authorities noted that no officers were injured, and that they were looking for a sixth man nicknamed “Bloodstain” who escaped.
Police said that they reported the killings to Jamaica’s Independent Commission of Investigations, a government agency created in 2010 to investigate complaints against Jamaica’s police, military and corrections officers.
Security forces on the island have long been accused of unlawful killings and using excessive force.
Last week, the commission issued a statement saying that it was concerned “over the continued rise in fatal shootings by the Security Forces, in particular fatalities arising from planned police operations, as well as the persistent failure to prioritize the deployment of body-worn cameras.”
It noted that so far this year, Jamaican security forces have fatally shot 177 people, compared with 80 in the same period last year, representing a 121% increase.
From July 18, 2024, to July 18 of this year, forces have killed 288 people. The commission noted that police didn’t use body cameras in any of those incidents.
“A recurring theme in the shooting incidents show that weapons are alleged to have been pointed at officers, but in the absence of third-party eyewitnesses or video evidence, investigators are unable to verify or justify the use of lethal force,” the commission said.