KINGSTON, Jamaica – The University of Technology (UTech) Students’ Council and the University of West Indies (UWI) Mona Guild of students have condemned yesterday’s “brutal murder” of a 22-year-old UTech medical student.

The woman, identified as Shanique Walters, was shot dead in Hope Pastures, St Andrew last evening during a reported robbery while on her way home from school.

Police reports are that Walters and another female student were walking along Hope Boulevard when men in a motorcar demanded that the two hand over their handbags.

Walters allegedly ran off and one of the men exited the motor vehicle then shot her. The other student, who had reportedly complied was unharmed

The UTech Students’ Union Council who expressed sadness at the news in a statement last evening said it is time that young people take a stand against the violence that persists in the country against youths.

Meanwhile, the UWI Mona Guild this morning issued a release stating: “This has been a trend for far too long and it’s about time these criminal elements stop preying on our university students.”

The student-led organization expressed that “while crime continues to plague the nation, it is a harder hit when students are the victims of these attacks, primarily because they are future of Jamaica and the hope for a less violent nation lies within the parameters of students”. 

“Our hearts go out to the family of the deceased and we join with the UTech student body in mourning,” the UWI release said.

The UTech student body also issued a plea for all students and university officials to wear black today “to end the silence and stop the violence against our nation’s youth”.