ST JAMES, Jamaica — Residents of York Bush in St James are trying to come to terms with the death of two men killed in what is believed to be an extortion attempt on Monday morning.

Sixty-four-year-old Henry Salmon and 56-year-old Gilbert Jackson came under heavy gunfire about 8:50 am as they travelled by truck in the community. The shots were allegedly fired by a man whose earlier attempts to extort money from them was rebuffed. The alleged shooter has a reputation for violence.

Member of Parliament for St James Southern and state minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Homer Davis visited the scene on Monday.

“You see persons driving and you indicate to them to stop; you demand money and the gentleman commented that, ‘I don’t give lazy man my money’. And that is what caused their demise. When those words came out of his mouth, then bullets came out of the guns and snuffed out the lives of the two well-respected, highly rated community members,” the MP said.

Reports are that Jackson, who is a carpenter, hired Salmon to transport kitchen cupboards to a house in Salt Spring. They were attacked on a section of York Bush road. Shrubs brought the truck in which the men were travelling to a halt.

Their wives have been jolted by the news of their deaths.

“Mi talk to him this morning and then mi leave him. He was eating his breakfast and as mi leave mi take a taxi and go out. By the time mi reach the school to register mi son, mi get the phone call that the truck shoot up. Mi never know him in it till mi get a phone call that him dead in it,” said a grief-stricken Erica Jackson.

Vinnette Salmon, who has been married to Henry for the last 33 years, was no less distraught.

“My phone keep ringing, [I kept asking what happened to Joe] and nobody wasn’t telling me. They said I should run come and look and when I come this is what I see,” she lamented.

Other relatives and neighbours wept openly as the police processed the crime scene. Among them was McKoy Jackson who said he did not believe when he received a phone call saying his brother had been killed.

“I just say let me come down here come see if a true and a same so it go,” he said.

The last time he saw his brother, he added mournfully, was last week Sunday when he installed cupboards at his house.

“It’s just sad that you have some idlers and some low-minded people who have no ambition. [They killed people] who deh work them honest money,” he said.

According to MP Davis, the community is now shrouded in fear because of the actions of a few unscrupulous individuals.

“We cannot allow one or two members of the community to hold a community at ransom. I have spoken to a number of citizens here this morning and they are all in fear, they want something to be done and they need it done now,” he said.

The police investigation is ongoing.

“What we have gathered so far is that there seems to be a member of the community who has been creating havoc among the members. We are following some leads and very shortly we will hold that person accountable,” promised Superintendent Eron Samuels who is in charge of police operations in St James.

“We want members of the community to work with the police. We are hearing that there are members moving around the community with firearms. We want the community to know that we are here to assist. If you see anything that can cause harm or persons who you believe are criminal elements moving within your community, call us,” he urged.