HANOVER, Jamaica — Twenty-year-old Delano Hines yesterday became the third person known to be killed in the western end of the island since a State of Emergency was used to blanket three crime-plagued parishes on November 15.

The Elgin Town resident was reportedly ambushed and shot to death while riding his motorbike about 7:45 am, shattering the quiet of the usually peaceful community located approximately one and a half miles from the town of Lucea.

Residents were tight-lipped when our news team visited the area. However, it’s understood that Hines is originally from Jericho and had moved into the area about a year ago with relatives. He did not talk much, residents said.

One woman who opted not to provide her name said she heard a loud explosion less than a minute after Hines rode by. She has been left rattled by her proximity to the attack. 

“A out deh suh mi a come from this morning when right a bridge him pass mi and come round. Shortly after I heard, ‘Pow!’ But [because] mi know a di bike them, mi nuh tek it meck nutten. A when mi si people start run, mi start run because mi nuh know a wah. Mi nuh know wah mi a run bout but mi tek mi self outta di way,” she said.

It was only afterwards, she said, that she realised that there was a body on the road.

Another resident who said Hines is not known to be a “bad guy” said his killing has left the community traumatised.

“It is a peaceful community that is just coming back together,” stated the resident.

The incident in Hanover follows Tuesday’s double murder in Westmoreland during a training session at the Y’S Menettes Resource Centre on Barracks Road. One of the men killed was identified as Shandane Campbell who is believed to be in his early 20s. He is from the community of Grotto, which is located near areas where several people were killed over the weekend. Campbell was a Peace Management Initiative (PMI) trainee who was helping to quell discord in his community.

Westmoreland, Hanover and St James are among the parishes where seven SOEs were declared, spanning police divisions from the east to the western ends of the island.

Anthony Lewis