Police are hopeful that calm will soon return to the Tredegar Park and Gravel Heights communities in Spanish Town in St Catherine, following the shooting death of James Hinds, the leader of one of two violent gangs operating in those areas.

Hinds, whom the police described as one of the most wanted persons in Jamaica, was said to have been wanted in connection with several homicides and shootings in St Catherine. He met his demise after he and a group of men allegedly engaged the police in a shootout in Newlands, Portmore on Saturday night.

Police say that they found Hinds’s body with gunshot wounds after a search of the area. They also said that another man was arrested during the incident, and that he is now being interrogated in connection with the

ongoing rivalry.

“We anticipate that it (Hinds’s death) will go somewhere towards stability to that area,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds told the Observer yesterday.

“What we are doing right now is to pursue other members of his gang operating in those communities, as well as the leaders and members of the other gang that are causing the problem,” added Hinds.

Hinds is said to lead the notorious ‘Klansman’ gang based in Tredegar Park. One of the murders that he was wanted for is that of Roy Anthony, also called ‘Guyah’ at Lauriston, St Catherine in August last year.

He was featured on the police’s most wanted list three weeks ago.

In the meantime, police in Spanish Town could not say if the deaths of two men, whose bodies were yesterday found in Cross Pen, located just outside the Tredegar Park community, was linked to Hinds’s killing.

The cops could not provide the names of the dead men but said that their bodies were found on a farm in the community about midday.

“Both of them were found with gunshot wounds. As far as our investigation there is nothing at this time to suggest that their deaths may have been linked to Hinds’s killing,” said Superintendent Derrick Champagnie, anti-crime boss at the Spanish Town Police Station.