THE May Pen police yesterday detained three men in connection with the death of police constable Richard Dwayne Alexander, whose body was found yesterday at Juno Crescent, in May Pen, the Clarendon capital.

Alexander, who was assigned to the Hunts Bay Police Station in St Andrew, is the seventh cop to die violently this year.

According to the Constabulary Communication Network, shortly after the May Pen police began investigations into Constable Alexander’s death, they received information which led them to the three men whom they apprehended.

According to the May Pen police, approximately 9:50 pm on Monday the police constable was riding a bicycle in the Juno Crescent community when he was attacked by a group of men, who shot and stabbed him repeatedly. Alexander allegedly went to Juno Crescent in an effort to settle a dispute in the area involving some of his family members. Alexander’s body was later discovered by residents in the area approximately 7:05 am yesterday.

An officer told the Observer that Alexander’s death could have roots in an altercation between two of his cousins and an ‘influential man’ in the community over work being done on a construction site. Alexander, the officer said, allegedly went to the area to warn the man to leave his cousins alone and on his way back he was attacked and killed by persons said to be affiliated to the ‘influential man’.