WESTERN BUREAU:

A strong contingent of police had to be deployed to Flankers, St. James, yesterday where residents again mounted a roadblock to protest Wednesday's fatal shooting of a man by the police in that community.

The protesters contend that 29-year-old Peter Johnson, also known as 'Ravers', was murdered by the lawmen.

Police reports are that, shortly before 11 a.m., a team of lawmen was travelling behind a white Toyota motor car that was operating as a robot taxi. The car stopped in the vicinity of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) barracks, and a man stepped out of the car.

"The man then made eye contact with the police and pulled a pistol from his waist," stated Corporal Peter Salkey of Constabulary Communication Network (CCN).

"The police then challenged the man, fired shots hitting him. He was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead."

A nine-millimetre pistol, with three live rounds, was reportedly also recovered from Johnson.

But angry residents barricaded the roadway leading into the community and Montego Bay when they received news that Johnson had been killed.

The lawmen later managed to clear the blockade, which had caused in traffic congestion along the North Coast Highway between the Flankers community and Sangster International Airport.

No shoot-out

"Him never have a gun ... there was no shoot-out between him and the police. I was standing right out here and I see everything that went on," an eyewitness told The Gleaner.

"Him get bail on a case where him supposed to report to the (Coral Gardens Police) Station every Wednesday. Him go station to make him report, and as the man come out of the taxi them shoot the man inna him back first. When the man drop, dem turn him over, shoot him in the face and shoot him inna him chest."

The St. James police hierarchy said Johnson was on bail in relation to the murders of 49-year-old Cecil 'Jimmy' Spence, and his wife, Pauline, 43, at their home in Seavie Flankers, on July 29.