By Devon Evan, Gleaner WriterTWO MEN were shot and killed, including one by the police, another man shot and injured and several guns and ammunition recovered by the police in St. Ann between late Friday night and early Saturday morning.
The police also took two men and a woman into custody as they began investigation into a series of robberies and the discovery of what the lawmen described as a gun manufacturing operation.
The dead men have been identified as 70-year-old farmer, Linton Hanniford, of Claremont, St. Ann, and Steadson Ebanks of York Castle District in the parish, while in hospital suffering from gunshot wounds is 52-year-old farmer Albert Atkinson, also of Claremont.
GUNMEN
Hanniford was shot and killed by one of three gunmen in the York Castle district at about 11:30 Friday night when he and other patrons, including Atkinson, were in a bar which was held up and robbed by the gunmen. It is reported that while the robbery was in progress, Hanniford resisted and was shot dead by one of the gunmen.
The gunmen then began to fire wildly during which Atkinson was shot and wounded. The men reportedly sped away from the scene in a black Toyota Caldina motor car which crashed some distance away, and they escaped in bushes. The police say they recovered six twelve-gauge cartridges and eight 9MM spent shells from the death scene.
CCN liaison officer for St. Ann, Stacy Hawkins, reported that investigation by the St. Ann police led them to conduct a search of three homes in the Hollywood area of Steer Town early Saturday morning. She said Ebanks, who was wanted by the police for several crimes, came out of his house and opened fire with a Remington shotgun as the cops were moving towards his house, and he was cut down in a hail of bullets.
WOMAN IN CUSTODY
The shotgun was recovered by the police and during a search of Ebanks' house the police found a Glock 9MM pistol with five live rounds, three home-made guns, 19 live rounds of twelve-gauge cartridges and several components that are able to make at least eight guns. They also recovered a police uniform and took two men and a woman into custody.
Last week Saturday the St. Ann police also recovered two guns in a shoot-out with three gunmen in Ocho Rios. Two of the men were shot and killed, and the other who was shot and injured is still on the run.
Meanwhile, head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in St. Ann, Deputy Superintendent Wilford Gayle, is praising the co-operation of residents in the parish for recent successes that have been made by the police, and is urging them to continue to give their full support to the fight against crime and violence in St. Ann.
