Not even the pouring rains of Tropical Storm Gustav were enough to quiet the gunmen who continued their murderous rampage in St Mary yesterday.

This time their victim was police Inspector Audley Smith, the acting head of operations in St Mary.

Reports are that Smith had just left the St Mary Parish Council Emergency Operation Centre and stopped at a bar in Race Course in the parish when he was fatally shot by the gunmen shortly before eight yesterday evening.

Up to late last night, details of the murder were not available and investigators had not determined a motive.

Minutes after the shooting, an obviously shocked Mayor of Port Maria Richard Creary expressed regret at the killing of the cop who spent most of yesterday involved in planning the council's disaster response.

Major send-off

"He was one of the best policemen you can find, everybody loved him and St Mary will not be the same without him," Creary said.

The mayor noted that residents of Retreat in the parish had staged a major send-off for Smith when he was transferred to the Oracabessa Police Station recently.

Smith was the 10th member of the police force to be murdered since the start of the year and the second inspector this month.

Inspector Dennis Gardner and Corporal Rodney Henry were murdered in separate incidents on August 2.