Two men who police say were members of a gang that menaced communities in Trelawny were shot dead by cops yesterday in what the police say was a firefight in Deeside, Trelawny.

News that 17 year-old Orlando Hodges of Wakefield and Alton Lamey, also 17, of a Deeside address in the parish had been killed, appeared to have pleased some residents who went to the Falmouth Public Hospital, apparently for confirmation.

“Well, me can start play dominoes a night time again and not be afraid of Sergeant Bulletproof Vest,” one man commented.

Said another: “Me can feel safe to go look girls again.”

According to the police, a team comprising members of the Area One Flying Squad and the Falmouth CIB, acting on information, went to an abandoned building in Deeside in search of the men at about 2:00 am.

The police say that on their arrival, they were greeted with gunfire, which they returned. When the shooting ended, they found Hodges and Lamey dead. They also said they found four homemade shotguns, ammunition, a police bulletproof vest, and other items which they believe were stolen by the men.

Two other men, the police say, escaped during the skirmish. They are now being hunted.

“We want the citizens to work with us to apprehend the rest of the men,” pleaded Senior Superintendent Jasmine Tomlinson-Brown. “We know they are from the area, but they are wrongdoers, and they are disrupting people’s lives, so it’s easier for them if they give us the information, or if they even could encourage their families to bring them in to us.”

In February this year, Hodges, along with Durant Kelly, 28, of Flankers, St James; and Andre Morrison, 17, of Deeside all escaped from one of the Falmouth Police Station’s five cells by removing a portion of the ceiling.

Hodges and Morrison were awaiting trial on charges of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. Kelly was facing charges of housebreaking and larceny in Trelawny and was also scheduled to be taken to St James to face similar charges there.

Meanwhile, the Constabulary Communication Network yesterday reported that two of four persons who were shot in separate incidents in Kingston and Portland on Saturday died.

In the first incident, a man known as “Steve Harvey”, “Steve McLean” and “Coke Head” was shot by a licensed firearm holder in St Margaret’s Bay, Portland. Police say Harvey had a dispute with a relative of the firearm holder. The fiream holder intervened and during an alleged struggle with Harvey, shot him. That happened at about 3:45 pm.

In the second incident, at approximately 5:40 pm, 20 year-old Peter Murdock was slain by gunmen at Whitehall Avenue in Kingston.

Police say that Murdock, also called Anthony Riley of Seaview Gardens, Kingston 11, and a friend were at a garage waiting for his motorcycle to be repaired when two gunmen approached them. They ran and were chased. The gunmen fired at them, hitting Murdoock and two other persons. Murdock’s friend was not hit.

Murdock and the other injured persons – a 43-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman – were taken to hospital where Murdock died while being treated. The man and woman were admitted.

The St Andrew North police have not yet established a motive for the killing.