CLARENDON, Jamaica – Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson has ordered the increased deployment of assets into the Clarendon Police Division.

This increased presence follows a recent spate of killings in the division, which has left five people dead and three others nursing shooting injuries over a 72-hour period.

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Head of the Corporate Communications Unit, Senior Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay, said this week’s killings stemmed from a dispute over a stolen motorbike in the community.

On Wednesday about 9:30pm, gunmen opened fire on patrons at a community square, hitting four people. Fifty-six-year-old Michael Henry, a taxi operator, and another man, Evel Mitchell, were killed in that incident.

Later that night, another resident of the community, 48-year-old Janet Mundle-Reeves, was shot and killed by gunmen.

Yesterday, about 7:30 pm, gunmen opened fire on a couple who was walking along the roadway in the community. They have been identified as 54-year-old Sonia Miller Taylor and Leroy Taylor, both of Effortville.

SSP Lindsay says that investigators from the Criminal Investigation Branch and the Major Investigation Division have been assigned to assist detectives in the division as the investigations into the killings continue.