Alleged gang members for court on Feb 11
ANOTHER St Catherine gang, the Umbrella Gang, operating out of Newland and Naggo Head, Portmore, could soon feel the pangs of the anti-gang legislation following Wednesday’s charging of two alleged members for the November 4, 2021 shooting death of Sheldon Hoppings at his shop on White Lane in Newland.
While the nation has been gripped by the gruesome details emerging from the One Don faction of the Spanish Town-based Klansman trial now under way, the St Catherine South Police were busy laying charges against Ian Langley, 19, also known as Chicken Back and System, as well as Kerval “Fyah” Fisher, 42, for the murder of Hoppings.
Both men, according to Senior Superintendent Christopher Phillips, head of the St Catherine South Police Division, are known members of the Umbrella Gang and were allegedly acting on the telephone orders of its incarcerated leader.
“We don’t want to say much just now as it relates to how we will proceed as it relates to the anti-gang legislation, but we have intentions to go after the Umbrella Gang operating in Newland. Those two persons are members of that particular gang,” Phillips pointed out.
“This particular investigation is in its embryonic stages and we would not want to make it too difficult for the investigators. However, the Umbrella Gang is among 18 active gangs in the St Catherine South division. We are being very meticulous with how we are handling the very little we have so far,” he added.
Fisher, police sources reported, was pointed out at an ID parade, and Langley was charged based on an eyewitness’s statement.
Allegations are that, on the day of the murder, Fisher got a telephone call and afterwards contacted Langley, who, along with two other men, went to the shop operated by Hoppings and shot him fatally.
The Umbrella Gang is also believed to be responsible for the October 30, 2021 killing of Flow technician Kern McCollin, who was shot after refusing the gang’s orders to remove a closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance camera at his house in Naggo Head.
Dwayne Douglas, 21, an alleged Umbrella Gang member, was recently charged for McCollin’s murder. He is said to be among three suspects who were being sought by the St Catherine South police
They are slated to return to court on Friday, February 11, 2022.