Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

The horrifying killing spree, which has been rocking St James within recent weeks, claimed yet another victim on Friday night with the gangland-style murder of a taxi operator along the volatile Sun Valley Road on the outskirts of downtown Montego Bay.

The deceased, who suffered multiple bullet wounds, has been identified as 41-year-old Richard Wollery of a Bottom Pen address, also in St James. Another man, who was reportedly engaged in a conversation with the dead taxi operator at the time of the incident, was also shot and injured.

Stable condition

Reports are that, shortly after 8:30 p.m., Wollery was sitting in his car having a discussion with another man, who was standing outside the vehicle, when two gunmen approached them and opened fire.

Wollery and his companion were both rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead and the other man admitted in a stable condition.

"This has been a most frustrating week for us because all we seem to be doing is running from one murder scene to another," said a senior St James crime fighter, who asked not to be identified. "Personally, I think we are in a state of anarchy because our protect-and-serve mandate is under serious threat from these killers."

Wollery's killing comes sharply on the heels of the mayhem that unfolded in the Mount Carey community shortly after 10:40 on Thursday night.

Shooting melee

In one incident, marauding gunmen killed 31-year-old Howard Stephens in a shooting melee, while in the another instance, unknown persons beheaded 27-year-old Marvin Grant.

"If me hear a trash mash right now me jump," said an elderly Mt Carey resident, who seemed traumatised by the shootings. "Who coulda tell me se me woulda live fi si we good, good Mt Carey tun inna gun town."

Despite several new policing initiatives instituted by the St James Police High Command to combat the rampant criminality, which resulted in a record 178 murders last year. There have been 58 murders in the parish this year.

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com