Gunshots claimed the lives of two men in separate incidents in Kingston on Friday night while the decomposing remains of two other males were found at opposite ends of the island, also on Friday.

Dead are 44 year-old Cedric White and 26 year-old David Johnson who were both shot, as well as 28 year-old Omar Myers and Michael Irving, 24, whose corpses were found by residents.

In the case of White, who lived in Portmore, the police suspect robbery as the motive because his licensed 9 mm firearm was taken from his body.

The Constabulary Communication Network’s metro officer reported that White was standing outside a commercial property on Baker Street in the Kingston 12 area shortly after 3:00 in the afternoon when two gunmen shot him several times.

The men then ran off with the victim’s white Beretta 9mm pistol bearing the serial number S/N077567.

In the incident involving Johnson, formerly of Rae Street in Kingston 16, police said the 26 year-old was fatally shot at around 11:00 pm on the night in question. When the police arrived – after being alerted by residents of the community – they found the young man’s body at the intersection of Tower Street and Lower Elletson Road with several gunshot wounds.

Of the two human remains, one was found in Ellerslie Pen, St Catherine and the other in Adelphi, St James.

Residents of Ellerslie Pen, on the outskirts of Spanish Town, stumbled upon Myers’ body in a gully in the area at about 4:30 Friday evening and contacted the police. The cause of death has not yet been determined, but the St Catherine North police said the young man’s body had “a number of gunshot wounds”.

In St James, the decomposing remains of Irving, also called Rumpell, were discovered in bushes in Paisley district. Police said he died as a result of gunshot wounds.

Paisley had been missing from home since January 22.

Meantime, despite a 20 per cent reduction in crime for the year 2006, the murder rate for 2007 has been skyrocketing since the beginning of the year, with sporadic flare ups of violence, particularly in Kingston and in St James.

There have been an estimated 75 murders in the country since January 1, and Security Minister Dr Peter Phillips is expected to address the nation on the issue tomorrow.