CLARENDON, Jamaica — Police in this parish are theorising that gang violence is at the heart of a shooting which left a farmer dead on Sunday.

Dead is 47-year-old O’Neil ‘Hunter’ McLean who lived in New Harbour Village Phase 3, in St Catherine. Detectives are currently pursuing one person of interest whom they say may be able to assist them with the case.

According to police reports, McLean and a friend were in Content, York Town tending to his animals when two armed men fatally shot him. His friend, who is a licensed firearm holder, challenged the men and they fled. His friend was not injured during the attack.

McLean, who was originally from Clarendon, served time overseas on narcotics related charges before returning to Jamaica, the police said. After run-ins with gang members he moved to St Catherine but returned periodically to tend to his cattle.

Meanwhile, the Clarendon police are trying to establish a motive for Sunday’s killing of 18-year-old Jermaine Simpson in Bucknor.

According to the police report, Simpson had just returned home from a party in the community and was in the process of securing his motor bike when he was shot multiple times to the upper body. He was taken to the May Pen Hospital where he was pronounced dead.