BELMONT, Westmoreland — Police in Westmoreland are probing a double murder in the usually quiet community of Belmont yesterday.

The two men have been identified as 41-year-old Fritz Gerard and 32-year-old Dwayne Bell of a St Catherine address. Both men are masons.

According to reports from the police, about 1:30 am residents reportedly heard loud explosions coming from a section of the community.

The police later found the bodies of the men in a pool of blood with gunshot wounds to their upper bodies.

The men, who reportedly left their house opened, were killed in their sleep.

Yesterday, Westmoreland Western Member of Parliament Dr Wykeham McNeill reiterated his concerns about the state of crime in the parish.

According to the mp, there has been an increase in murders over the past two to three years.

Dr McNeill said that while he had supported the extension of the states of public emergency in St James and St Catherine, and the zones of special operations (ZOSO), the limited number of boots on the ground in Westmoreland is negatively impacting the parish.

“It has negative implications for my parish and constituency. In a police station that has 10 police, where you get five rotating at night and five in the day? And of the five in the day, one is at the desk and leave you with four. And then they move two of those to Montpelier (St James ZOSO) to do duty. it means that you have two people on the road, so it is a recipe for disaster,” McNeill said in an interview with members of the media.

The parish has reportedly seen close to 100 murders since the start of the year.

— Anthony Lewis