BETHEL TOWN, Westmoreland - Senior police personnel were last night interrogating a man they have in custody who, they say, is linked with Thursday night's shooting of a police corporal and another member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church here.

The injured cop, Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) liaison officer for the St James Police Division, Corporal Peter Salkey, is in hospital in critical condition.

His injured brethren, who is reportedly the leader of the church, was treated at the Cornwall Regional Hospital and released.

Yesterday, the police hierarchy appealed for blood for the affable Corporal Salkey who received injuries to at least one of his internal organs.

Since the appeal, scores of colleagues, as well as media practitioners have reportedly rallied to the call.

According to the police, shortly after 9:00 pm Thursday, Corporal Salkey - who was ordained as an elder of the church two weeks ago - the church leader and a small group of church members were attacked by two armed men minutes after they left a Men's Fellowship meeting.

The church leader ran across the road and fell in nearby bushes while the injured cop, in a show of steely resolve, drew his firearm and challenged the men before he collapsed.

The police theorise that one of the attackers was hit by a bullet from Salkey's gun before they fled the scene in a waiting motor car.

The injured cop was swiftly whisked away to hospital by residents.

"I cannot believe that anybody would want to hurt a man like Salkey," one resident stated, echoing a general sentiment throughout the parish.

The residents claimed that the attackers, using the cover of darkness, lurked under a tree across the road from the church where they waited for the men to exit the church door.

After news broke of the shooting of the highly respected Salkey, a large group of persons, including sombre-looking representatives from media houses across western Jamaica, gathered - without tape recorders and cameras - at the Cornwall Regional Hospital where they waited anxiously for word on the cop's condition.

Yesterday, president of West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor Glen Samuels, condemned the latest attack on members of his flock.

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