DETECTIVE Sergeant Kevin Mayne’s mother, a retired cop, as well as his colleagues are devastated.

They have seen Detective Sergeant Mayne, a veteran investigator, work in “many tough communities”, including west Kingston, and did not expect him to end up getting killed by an accused fraudster he was escorting on the grounds of the precinct where he worked in Half-Way-Tree, St Andrew.

According to an official police report, the tragedy unfolded at about 5:45 pm on Monday after Detective Sergeant Mayne, who was stationed at the Half- Way-Tree Criminal Investigation Branch, received a report from a complainant in relation to an alleged fraud matter involving Deon Singh, owner of Deon Singh Auto on Hagley Park Road in St Andrew.

Singh, who was reportedly on bail, was actually attending the Half-Way-Tree Criminal Court, which is on the same grounds as the police station, on another fraud matter.

“So Detective Sergeant Mayne went over to get him in furtherance of that investigation. They were walking back to the station when at some point he attacked Sergeant Mayne and a tussle ensued. Another policeman who saw what was happening intervened when Singh grabbed his firearm and shot Sergeant Mayne and then turned the gun on himself,” Senior Superintendent of Police Stephanie Lindsay, who heads the Corporate Communications Unit of Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.

She said Mayne’s family and co-workers have been reeling and are receiving care from the chaplaincy and medical services branch of the JCF.

“We are picking up the pieces. I just had a briefing with our chaplaincy and medical services branch, they are doing a lot of work with the officers at Half-Way-Tree because they are very devastated about the situation, just the circumstances and the individual that he was. Sergeant Mayne was a veteran investigator in the force; he has worked in many tough communities, spent a lot of time in the Kingston Western Division and when you look at it to say this has happened, it is very difficult for them,” Lindsay said.

“Another team is with the family. His mother, who is a former member of the force, and him were extremely close; he has at least four children, which includes two teenaged daughters,” Lindsay told the Observer.

Lindsay, in the meantime, said an investigation into the matter is ongoing. The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) is also involved.

“There are cameras, so we are reviewing the footage to get a better account as both persons who were involved are deceased,” she told the Observer. She said the police confirmed the circumstances as it relates to Singh, who had reported for court and supposedly had his bail extended and was being taken by the cop to be interviewed in relation to the new matter when the incident unfolded.

She, in the meantime, described the incident as “very bizarre and unfortunate”.

“Unfortunately it is part of the nature of the work that we do. It’s a very risky job; any day can start out perfectly and end up in tragedy,” Lindsay said.