POLICE in St Elizabeth and Kingston recovered two 9mm pistols on Saturday and have held four persons in connection with both seizures.

The incident in St Elizabeth yielded a Glock semi-automatic pistol and 43 rounds of ammunition, bringing to six, the number of guns seized by the police in the parish since the start of the year.

The Constabulary Communication Network, (CCN), report that a Honda Accord motor car, fitting the description of one reported stolen, was spotted by a police patrol at Southfield in the parish with a couple and two children on board.

Police allege that the man drew a firearm and pointed it at them when they tried to approach the vehicle. He was shot and injured.

The loaded gun, bearing the serial number XT 732, and ammunition were seized police say.

The man was then taken to the Black River Hospital where he was admitted under police guard. The woman was taken into custody for questioning, while the two children, aged five and seven, were taken to a place of safety.

According to the police, the car was stolen along Half-Way-Tree Road in Kingston two weeks ago, while the registration plates were found to be a set reported stolen in Black River last week. Several items of jewellery and a cellular phone taken from the scene were found to be those stolen from a house in Vineyard district in the parish.

The police in the area say the man taken into custody is a known criminal who is wanted by police in other areas of the island in connection with various crimes, including armed robbery and shooting with intent. His name has been withheld pending an identification parade.

Criminal activity has been on the increase in the south St Elizabeth area in recent times. Last week, a female tourist and her male companion were robbed at a cottage in Treasure Beach by three gunmen who made off with an undetermined sum of cash and other valuables. Hours after the incident, one of the gunmen was cut down by police bullets at Pedro Plains district. A 9mm Ruger pistol with two rounds was taken from the man’s body.

A highly placed police source in the area blamed the influx of hard drugs and expatriate criminals for the increase in criminal activity.

“A lot of drugs, including cocaine, passes through the area and people involved in that kind of activity are naturally attracted,” the source said. “They (the criminals) come and integrate with the people and are helped by persons in the area to carry out their criminal acts.”

In Kingston, the police recovered a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver and arrested two men — Kirk Douglas, 33, also known as “Oney” and Carrington Wedderburn, 23. They have been charged with breaches of the Firearms Act.

Police say the men were arrested after they were searched at the intersection of Barry and West streets and the gun allegedly found in Douglas’ possession.

So far this year, the police have recovered 151 guns and 3,125 rounds of assorted ammunition islandwide.