TONI-ANN Murray, a cashier employed to the Jamaica Observer, was among two people shot dead by gunmen in Meadowbrook Estate, St Andrew, Saturday night.

The other victim of the gun attack was identified by the police as George Phillips, 21, a resident of Ridgeway Road in Meadowbrook. A man who was sitting in a motor car nearby escaped injuries despite bullets hitting the vehicle.

Murray, 31, started working with the Observer early this year as a cashier in the Finance Department.

The Duhaney Park police reported that about 8:27 pm Murray was sitting in a motor car on the compound of the community centre, located at intersection of Bombay and Linscott Avenue, in Meadowbrook, while Phillips was sitting on a makeshift chair when two armed men approached and opened gunfire on them before escaping in a motor vehicle which had been parked nearby.

Both were taken to hospital where they were pronounced dead.

There was an unconfirmed report that Murray was making enquiries about the shooting death of her brother last month by gunmen when she came under attack shortly after. However, it was not clear if her demise was in any way linked to the murder of her sibling.

The killings again bring into sharp focus the continuous crime problem which has caused Jamaica to be ranked as the fourth most murderous country in the world.

The police project that homicides could reach as high as 1,526 by the end of 2017 if the current trend of 4.1 murders daily continues. As at November 5, murders stood at 1,359.