Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
Detectives begin the probe into the murder of one of their colleagues, Inspector Lascelles Walsh, who was cut down by gunmen while on duty on Port Royal Street, downtown Kingston, yesterday morning. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE POLICE yesterday linked the brutal killings, which claimed the lives of three policemen and two security guards in the Corporate Area, to the recent killing of a popular Kingston don.
While the nation expressed outrage, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and private sector officials have condemned the brazen attacks on members of the security forces, declaring that the fight against crime and violence must remain on track.
"We must not give up the fight for what is good and right," declared the Prime Minister. "We will conquer this evil in our midst."
The trail of killings across the Corporate Area did not result in a lockdown of business in the commercial district, airports or seaports. There was also no threat to tourists and other visitors to the island.
At a news conference, Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas said that the five homicides are reprisals for the death of Devon Griffiths, alias 'Zion Train', a notorious don from West Kingston, who was killed during a shoot-out three weeks ago. "Intelligence has suggested that the police would have paid for Griffiths' death," Commissioner Thomas told journalists at the Police Officers' Club, St. Andrew.
DERAILING SECURITY EFFORTS
"Intelligence has confirmed quite clearly that the cowardly acts were part of a plan to derail the sustained success the security forces had been reaping, especially over the past two weeks, with the arrest and detention of several gang leaders and members," said Commissioner Thomas.
The policemen cut down by gunmen's bullets between Tuesday night and early yesterday morning have been identified as 44-year-old Inspector Lascelles Walsh, formerly of the Police Traffic Department; Corporal Hewitt Chandler, 52, who was attached to the Protective Service Division, and a 63-year-old District Constable, Canute Brown, of the Cross Roads Police Station. A fourth policeman was shot and injured in a separate attack in the Greenwich Farm fishing area of St. Andrew. The injured officer was part of a foot patrol on duty in that section of the community.
One of the security guards killed has been identified as 46-year-old Richard Adams.
National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, during a visit to the Cross Roads Police Station, where District Constable Brown was killed during an attack on the station, said the police would go after the killers. "We know the source of this particular attack," he said. "We know the criminal group which instigated this attack and we are certainly going to ensure they will be dealt with, andwe are going to continue our efforts to dismantle the gang."
In a joint statement, the Jamaica Constabulary Force and its auxiliaries described the killings of the law enforcement officers as a clearly orchestrated and co-ordinated attack which began at about 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday which the murder of Corporal Chandler.
According to police reports, Chandler was driving a marked service vehicle when he was attacked by two men on a high-powered motor cycle at the intersection of West Kings House and Waterloo roads. Cpl. Chandler responded to the challenge and within minutes he received help from a unit attached to the Special Anti Crime Task Force.
When the dust settled his two attackers were killed. Two illegal guns, a Glock 9-mm pistol and a Browning 9-mm, along with 105 rounds of ammunition, were taken from the bodies of the two gunmen. One has since been identified as Christopher 'Chris Royal' Coke, 23.
According to Commissioner Thomas, the dead men are connected to the Tivoli Gardens community in West Kingston. News of Coke's death reached his community but with a twist. It was rumoured that security guards had helped the police in the killing of the two.
In what police believe is a reprisal for Coke's killing, gunmen shot District Constable Brown during a drive-by at the Cross Road Police Station. The car used in the incident was later found burnt along Port Royal Street, downtown Kingston.
Inspector Walsh, a 24-year veteran of the police force, was attired in his uniform and riding his service motorcycle, when he was attacked by men in a car at the intersection of Port Royal and Church streets, down town Kingston. Reports are that he was shot about 15 times. Mr. Walsh, a Christian, is survived by his wife Donna and five children.
