CLARENDON, Jamaica – A man was attacked, chopped and shot to death while bringing his seven-year-old son home from a wake at McDonald district in Crooked River, Clarendon, on Thursday night.

The deceased has been identified as 38-year-old Fitzroy Ricketts, otherwise called ‘Chewie’, a farmer from the district.

It was reported that around 9:40 pm, Ricketts and his seven-year-old son were at a wake in the community. The son felt sleepy during the event and requested to be taken home.

Police said Ricketts and the child went home, but upon pulling his gate, the father was accosted by several men who opened gunfire at him.

He ran into his yard and was chased into the bushes, where he was killed. The child ran back to the wake and made an alarm.

Residents notified the police, who, with the help of several community members, searched the muddy terrain and found Ricketts’ body in bushes about 150 metres from his dwelling in the dense vegetation.

He was found suffering from chop wounds to the neck and what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head. He was clad in blue jeans trousers, a grey sweater-type shirt and a black and white pair of Adidas sneakers.

The body was taken to the May Pen Hospital, confirmed dead, and later removed to the morgue.