Forty-eight year-old Special Constable Joslyn Francis of Chapleton, Clarendon was shot dead by gunmen near his home on Saturday night and his firearm stolen in what one colleague believes was a reprisal for the shooting death of a gunman in the area two weeks ago by cops.

The police said that Francis was attacked at about 9:00 pm while walking home, and his Smith and Wesson service revolver – serial number D995748 – with six live rounds stolen. His body was discovered some minutes later in a pool of blood.

“I just came in and got the news,” said one cop at the May Pen Police Station who asked not to be named. “It really shocked me to see that a man so quiet and easy going . it couldn’t be anything he did. It must have been a reprisal. I came here in 1997 and I have never heard that he was involved in anything with anybody.”

Another cop, District Constable Neville O’Connor, described the slain cop as a “jovial and funny” person who “loved to make jokes”.