Three killed at Salt Spring wake
MONTEGO BAY, St James – Three cousins were shot dead and three other persons wounded by gunmen at a wake in Buck Toe Lane in the tough inner city community of Salt Spring yesterday.
The body of an unidentified man believed to be about 25-years-old was also found minutes later with gunshot wounds in a yard on Cottage Drive, a few metres away from Buck Toe Lane.
The police however, could not confirm reports that he was also shot and killed by the same gunmen who invaded the wake.
Those killed at the wake – which was being held for Dean Wint, a scuba diver who drowned just over two weeks ago – have been identified as Roy Ricketts Jnr, 28; Ricardo Ricketts, 18, and 24-year-old Fabian Bailey, all of Buck Toe Lane, Salt Spring.
The injured aged 13, 18 and 27 are of Cottage Drive in Salt Spring.
According to the police, at about 1:40 am, a group of mourners were at the wake when they were pounced upon by eight armed men.
The men reportedly fired several shots at the mourners sending them scampering for cover.
There have been at least two similar shooting incidents in St James within the past two months.
On March 1, gunmen invaded a party on Perry Street where they shot and killed three persons and injured several others.
Less than a week later, four persons were killed by gunmen at a party in Glendevon.
When the Observer visited the community yesterday a tense calm prevailed in the area which has accounted for a significant number of the murders committed in St James in recent years.
The Salt Spring killings bring to nine, the number of persons murdered between Thursday night and yesterday evening in St James.
Two of the murders took place in the volatile Granville community, while the others were committed in the residential community of Bogue Village and in Barrett Hall.
In the Barrett Hall incident, the police said Kevin Forrester, 18, was killed at about 9:45 Friday night when he was pounced upon by armed men at a shop in the community. The gunmen, police said, opened fire hitting him several times before escaping. He died on the spot.
