MANCHESTER, Jamaica — A woman and a man were shot dead by a gunman who reportedly posed as a passenger in a taxi before disembarking the vehicle and opening fire on passengers in Mandeville Saturday night.

Police identified the deceased as 24-year-old nursing student Deneekia Pounall, a resident of Heartease district and 21-year-old Sadefa Henry, a resident of Greenvale.

Knox Community College nursing student, Deenekia Pounall

Sadefa Henry

Preliminary reports are that about 7:30 pm, Pounall and Henry were seated in a Toyota Voxy operated as a public passenger vehicle on the Mandeville to Royal Flat route when a man who was a passenger in the vehicle disembarked it at a section of the Caledonia Road commonly referred to as Horseshoe Curve.

The man reportedly opened fire on the seven occupants of the taxi. During the gunfire, two people were shot and injured.

They were rushed to the Mandeville Regional Hospital where Pounall was pronounced dead on arrival while Henry later succumbed to his injuries.

— Kasey Williams