MONTEGO BAY, St James — This western Jamaica city was gripped by shock and grief yesterday, following news that a well-loved businessman was abducted from his home and taken to his business establishment where he was shot and killed during the wee hours of the morning.

The deceased is 54-year-old Andrew “Andy” Chin of a Albion, Montego Bay, St James address.

Reports are that about 4:00 am the police were summoned to Church Street in the resort city where the bullet-riddled body of the businessman was found along a section of the roadway across from his business place.

A senior police officer source confirmed that Chin was shot at his business place.

“I can confirm that he was shot and killed at his shop,” the police officer confirmed.

The police source could not, however, confirm whether or not news making the rounds in Montego Bay that Chin was abducted from his home in Albion and taken to his business place along Church Street, where his abductors forced him to open a vault,

The highly placed police source could also not verify whether the businessman was making a run for it when he was shot at, and that his licensed firearm and motor car were stolen.

It is, however, abundantly clear that members of the Montego Bay business community are taking his killing very hard.

President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), Janet Silvera, who described Chin as an unassuming individual, was battling to come to grips with his demise.

“He’s from a family that has contributed significantly to the growth and the development of Montego Bay, and to see a member of this family losing his life like this is senseless, really, really senseless. I am really, really in shock,” Silvera stuttered.

“Andy Chin has been at that location for over 30 years. He is known by everybody as being very quiet, as being very respectful to people. You would never hear one person saying a bad thing about this gentleman because of the type of person he was, and this is a great loss to the city of Montego Bay. As a city we have to unite, come together, and see how we can stamp out crime. It can’t continue.”

Up to Wednesday, the parish of St James, which is currently under a state of public emergency, recorded some five deaths in six days, including a double murder.

Speaking to reporters following his Primary Exit Profile (PEP) scholarship awards ceremony in Mount Carey, St James, Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Homer Davis expressed concern over the spike in killings in the parish.

“I’m very, very concerned. Every life that is lost must be of concern to us as citizens,” Davis said.

Up to last Wednesday 89 murders were recorded by the St James police since the start of the year, which was 14 shy of the 103 people killed in the parish in 2018.

In the year 2017 the parish had 335 murders — a record.