BOG WALK, St Catherine – Shock and disbelief gripped residents of the sleepy community of Thirteen Lane in Bog Walk, St Catherine yesterday after five men were killed execution style by a gunman at a gambling shed there in the dead of night.

Up to late yesterday, police and residents were still trying to determine the gunman’s motive, as the only information they had was the killer’s comment – “a me and unno alone” – related by a man who said he heard from an adjoining building.

The man said he had settled in for the night in an old betting shop adjoining the gambling shed when, at about 1:00 am, he heard a man say “a me and unno alone”, then he heard gunshots.

“Ah peep through the door and see four man dead on the ground inna de gambling house. Ah tek time close back the door and ah tek time call 119,” the man said.

Police gave the dead men’s names as:

. Carlton Brown, 45, also known as ‘Rosewell’ of Deeside;

. Neville Davis, 29, also called ‘Shabba’, a painter of Church Road;

. Lloyd McPherson, 45, alias ‘Moet’ and ‘Prento’, labourer of Wonder Lane;

. Richard Groove, 30, of Swamp Lane; and

. a man known only as ‘Yellow’ of Spanish Town.

Detective Deputy Superintendent of Police Merval Smith said that at about 1:00 am six men were at the gambling shed on Thirteen Lane when the gunman went in and forced them to lie face down.

Five of the men were shot in the head. Four died instantly, the fifth ran but collapsed a few metres away, while the sixth man escaped unhurt.

“They were shot and killed in execution style,” Smith said.

Eight 9mm shells were found at the scene.

This is the second time in two years that a murder has taken place at that gambling house, the Observer was told.

Police, who picked up a number of $20 coins in the gambling house, said one of the dead men was found clutching $300 in his hand.

Pools of blood, a cap and a pair of sneakers submerged in blood in a corner, and dominoes and playing cards strewn all over the half-paved floor in the unfinished shed served as a graphic reminder of the night of horror.

As news of the killings spread, hundreds of people converged at the scene and grieved for the dead.

Olive McPherson, 52, said her stepson, Lloyd McPherson, was not a troublemaker. “But him gamble out here all the while. I am a Christian woman and I tell him all the time to stop gambling, but him wouldn’t hear,” she told the Observer.

Dorrette Morrison, trying hard to hold back the tears, said her brother, Neville Davis, was a quiet man who always smiled. She said Davis would gamble when he needed money or at the invitation of a friend.

Paul Brown admitted his father Carlton Brown was a compulsive gambler. “Him gamble all the time, but him sell shoes in Linstead market. He was a good and kind person,” he said.

“The district inna shock today, for all a de man dem wey dead a brethren, the whole community a family. We inna mourning ya now,” said one senior citizen.

A woman who gave her name only as Camille, said that the killing of the five men has made history in the community as something like that had never happened before. She was anxious for the police to find the killer and reveal what exactly drove him to kill the five men.

“I think the killer was here to avenge something,” she said. “No sir, this is not for this little quiet Bog Walk.”

Councillor Dr Raymoth Notice (JLP – Bog Walk division) condemned the killings and said there was an influx of guns in the area.

“I vehemently condemn the killings and the community is saddened and concerned by this tragedy,” said Notice. “But we have information before that there is an influx of guns in Bog Walk. I am calling on the police to speed up their investigations and carry the perpetrator of this heinous crime to justice.”