Two persons, including a 17-year-old, were shot and killed Monday night during an alleged confrontation with members of the security forces in the Riverton Community in St Andrew.

Superintendent Damion Manderson of the St Andrew South Police Division told OBSERVER ONLINE that while conducting a foot patrol in the community, a current hotspot that is plagued with gang violence, the police team came under fire.

“When the shooting subsided, they came upon two men clutching spate firearms. They were assisted to Kingston Public Hospital where both men were pronounced dead. No members of the police party were injured during this encounter,” Manderson told OBSERVER ONLINE.

The police reportedly recovered a Taurus x5 9mm pistol and a Browning single action pistol, which had the serial number partially erased.

The lawman said the deceased are believed to be members of the Blue Window gang who are operating in the community and who are involved in an ongoing feud with the Blingers gang.

“I want to use the opportunity to appeal to the Blingers gang, to appeal to the Blue Window gang operating here in the Riverton community to take the opportunity – the wanted men, the marquees and all the others inside here that are wanted. I want to use the opportunity to call on them, turn themselves in and come with a pastor, come with a teacher, come with your lawyers, come with somebody and turn yourselves in to the police,” Manderson said.

He added that the incident in the community highlights the work that is being done by the police in current hotspots across the island, where brazen individuals armed with weapons are willing to take the lives of innocent Jamaicans and members of the security forces.

He also emphasised that the police force will not stop until law and order is restored to the Riverton community and all the other communities across the St Andrew South Division.