DEANCOURT Wright, a 39 year old district constable attached to the Greater Portmore Police station, was shot dead yesterday in Windsor Heights, St Catherine. His death brings to 12, the number of cops murdered since the start of the year.

The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) said the police discovered Wright’s body on Orion Close, Windsor Heights near his burnt out Nissan Sunny motor car shortly after 2:00 am, after responding to reports of gunshots in the area.

The body, which had several gunshot wounds, was removed to the morgue for post mortem.

The Greater Portmore Homicide Unit is said to be investigating.

Wright was a pace bowler and hard-hitting batsman, who represented the Police cricket club as recently as the 2005 club season.

Last night, members of the cricket fraternity were still in shock. Brian Breese, the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) operations officer, said Wright was “highly respected and will be sorely missed”.

Added Breese: “He was a special character in his own right.”

In addition to Police, Wright also played senior club cricket for St Elizabeth and Lucas, and was a force in Business House cricket competitions. In St Elizabeth, he was remembered yesterday for his central role in the St Elizabeth Technical High School’s (STETHS) championship winning-team in the mid-1980s.

“Wright was always a hard worker, he trained extremely hard and he played his cricket hard,” said long-standing STETHS coach Junior Bennett.

“Though he never captained the school team, he showed plenty of leadership ability and was always helpful in that regard,” added Bennett, who is also the coach of the Jamaica Under-19 cricket team.

Eleven cops were murdered last year.