WESTERN BUREAU — A St James man, Ansel “Zadda” Mellish, who police said was on their Most Wanted list for the parish, was one of two men killed during an alleged shoot-out with cops in Montego Bay yesterday.

Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) officer for the parish, Constable Peter Salkey, told the Observer that a warrant was out for the arrest of 25 year-old Mellish who, he said, was wanted for murder and for questioning in connection with other crimes.

The other man, who was killed during the alleged shoot-out in bushes along the Fairfield main road, was 21 year-old Tash Leslie, also known as “Charles Bronson”, of Rough Road in Glendevon.

Salkey reported that at about 1:00 pm, a man in his mid-20s was about to take his teenage niece to school from Middle Road in Glendevon when Mellish and Leslie approached them with guns and forced them into his red Suzuki Swift motor car.

Upon reaching downtown Montego Bay, however, the constable said Mellish, who was driving the car, was spotted by the police and they signalled him to stop.

He is alleged to have refused and sped away, but the police managed to intercept the car along the Fairfield road.

Salkey said Mellish and Leslie alighted from the vehicle, firing shots, which hit a 31 year-old constable assigned to the Montego Bay Police Station, in the buttocks.

The police said they returned the fire and when the smoke cleared, Mellish and Leslie lay dead and a Taurus 9mm pistol with three live 9mm cartridges were seized.

The cop was rushed to hospital for treatment and was reported in stable condition up to late yesterday evening.

Following the incident, traffic slowed to a crawl along the Fairfield road as curious motorists and their passengers made inquiries about what had happened in the area.

After the deceased were removed to the morgue at the Madden’s Funeral Home along Union Street in the city, a throng of people gathered to take a final look at the dead men as their bodies were laid out on metallic slabs.

The owner of the red Suzuki Swift and his niece, in the meantime, escaped the shoot-out unharmed.

They were questioned by the police and released.

The Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) has been called in to probe the incident. The investigators are expected to arrive in Montego Bay today.