ST JAMES, Jamaica —Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Eron Samuels, the commanding officer for the St James Police Division, has moved to dismiss claims that a specific house was targeted during a joint military operation in Granville, St James, where a four-year-old was killed.

“I could not let it pass that it is said that a house was targeted. I will say this as well, because I have men and women who put their lives on the line every day, and that particular night, my men put their lives on the line in the heights of a gun fight to get that child to the hospital, using their bodies as shield to the mother and child so it is very emotional for us,” Samuels said.

The Senior Superintendent said the police continue to offer psychosocial support to the family of four-year-old Romain Bowman.

“What we intend to do is work closely with the community so that something like this never happens again within the community,” he said.

Bowman was among three killed during an alleged shootout between members of the security forces and gunmen in the community on New Year’s Day.

Two adult males who reportedly engaged the police in a shootout were also killed.

READ: Anguish & anger