MONTEGO BAY, St James — The names are different but the story is the same: Grieving relatives of men fatally felled by bullets from cops’ guns bitterly accuse lawmen of using excessive force, while the official police report says there was a shootout. Wednesday morning’s incident on the outskirts of Montego Bay was only unusual because of the number of men — four — who were shot dead.

“I don’t know what to tell my baby seh,” a weeping Tameika Evans told the Jamaica Observer.

Her two-year-old son, unaware that his father Jahmar Ashman was dead, enjoyed candy as the police maintained a barrier around the scene of the incident.

Ashman, Brian “Teezy” Fairclough, his son Brian “Teejay” Fairclough and another man who remained unidentified up to press time, were shot and killed by members of the security forces during an alleged confrontation at a marl quarry in the vicinity of Retirement Dump.

Evans said Ashman and the younger Fairclough worked as night watchmen at the quarry. She no longer lives in the area but said her mother, who initially called to tell her there was a heavy police presence there, was the one who told her Ashman had been killed. She said the men were whisked away to hospital before she got to Retirement.

Near the scene of the shooting a tearful Tashoy Fairclough, freshly made widow of Brian Fairclough, worried about the impact his death will have on the two children they shared.

Councillor Michael Troupe (People’s National Party, Granville Division) speaks with operations officer for St James Deputy Superintendent Rogerick Reid following Wednesday morning’s fatal shooting near Retirement Dump in St James. .

“The 10-year-old, she have grade five PEP (Primary Exit Profile exams) and a pure bawl she a bawl. The teacher call and I don’t know if she go focus in the exam this morning, but the teacher coming for her. I know she not going to focus on it,” she fretted.

“All of this is police brutality; them a wicked and we need justice round here suh. The man a big old 57-year-old man and is over there him work, a down there him live,” she added.

She told the Observer her spouse was the tractor operator at the quarry where he died and he was staying in a building at the quarry with his son and the two other men at the time of the incident. She described him as a peacemaker, a “good man” who avoided engaging in conflict.

For Gwendolyn Williams, who raised her grandson Brian “Teejay” Fairclough from birth, none of the men deserved the end they met. She is worried that their dependents will now have to fend for themselves.

“Them dead and leave them little children to go to school, them shouldn’t kill them. They didn’t do the police nothing fi them kill them,” she insisted.

But according to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) the four men were fatally shot, at approximately 5:40 am Wednesday, during an armed confrontation with members of the security forces who were in the area for “a targeted operation”.

“The operation was driven by intelligence developed during ongoing investigations into recent acts of violence in the area, including the murder of a man at the Retirement Dump on Friday, June 5. Investigators have been probing a series of violent incidents linked to an ongoing conflict among individuals operating within the scrap metal trade at the Retirement Dump,” said a press release from the JCF’s communications arm.

A distraught Tashoy Fairclough speaks about the impact the death of her husband, Brian Fairclough, will have on the two children they shared.

“Intelligence gathered by the police indicated that long-standing disputes among persons involved in the collection and sale of scrap metal and other recyclable materials had escalated in recent weeks, resulting in a cycle of violent reprisals and heightened tensions within the community,” it went on.

The JCF said Wednesday’s operation in Retirement was part of its efforts to stave off further violence and retaliation which, intelligence had suggested, was likely.

“Law enforcement personnel were deployed to the area as part of ongoing efforts to disrupt criminal activity, prevent additional loss of life, and restore public safety,” it said, adding that the four men who were shot were taken to hospital where they were pronounced dead.

The Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) has launched an investigation, standard procedure for every fatal shooting involving a member of the JCF.

This is the fourth such incident in Granville since the start of the year. On New Year’s Day, four-year-old Romaine Bowman and two men succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained during a security force operation in the community. On Mother’s Day, 17-year-old Tjey Edwards was shot and killed allegedly during a confrontation with members of the security forces. One week later Latoya “Buju” Bulgin was fatally shot by Constable Andrew Wilson as she transported people to a protest over Edwards’ death. The cop has since been charged with her murder and is before the courts.

According to Indecom, 14 people have been killed in alleged confrontations with the security forces since the start of June. There were 11 between this Tuesday and Wednesday, including two quadruple killings.