Slain Central Village quartet were on revenge mission – source
Published:Thursday | March 10, 2022 | 12:10 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
Three men and a teenage boy who were killed in a reported firefight with the St Catherine South police in the Central Village community of ‘Zambia’ have been alleged to be gangsters who were wanted for various violent crimes.
Acting on intelligence, the police swooped down on a dwelling about 2:30 a.m. in what Assistant Commissioner of Police Gary Griffiths, who leads Area Five, described as a targeted operation.
Three firearms - a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol loaded with four 9mm rounds, a Girsan Parabellum 9mm pistol fitted with a magazine containing eight 9mm rounds, and a .45 pistol with a magazine containing one .45 round - were seized.
The youngest of the alleged assailants has been identified as 16-year-old Deandre Channer, alias ‘Little D’ of McGregor Gully, Mountain View. The police say he is a high-ranking member of the Burgher Gully Gang and a suspect in the murder of a man committed in February 2022 in the Kingston Eastern Police division.
Twenty-one-year-old Romario Brewster, of Rollington Town, Kingston, was also said to be a top member of the Burgher Gully Gang. He was out on bail on firearm- and related charges. He is also a suspect in a murder committed in Kingston Eastern.
Twenty-two-year-old Nigel Adams, otherwise called ‘Chuku’ of Sarah Street, Kingston, was wanted for murder and shooting in the Kingston Central Division.
And Patrick Brown, 24, alias ‘Welsh’, of Zambia, Central Village, was a person of interest in a recent shooting in the Central Village area.
The quartet was believed to be planning to avenge the death of 33-year-old Hopeton Coleman, who was killed by assailants on February 23 in what was considered a reprisal killing.
Coleman’s killing, according to sources, was linked to the brutal killing on February 20 of 30-year-old GraceKennedy salesperson Leona ‘Kemmy’ Salmon, a resident of the community whose body was found with multiple gunshot wounds. Her throat was slashed and her eyes gouged.
The police have since arrested and charged 31-year-old Saddam Morgan Welder of Windsor Heights for Salmon’s murder.
Sources told The Gleaner that the men had been seen in the community since last week and were plotting to kill persons believed to be responsible for the murder of a community don.
“We see them in a the community but everybody fraid. Dem come in fi make war and take revenge on the man dem who killed the don,” said one resident, who requested not to be identified.
“A God wake me up when the shot dem start fire. Mi never know say a police until this morning.”
According to the resident, the community has been frozen with fear, with householders afraid to talk to the police.
One woman told The Gleaner that she was terrified when she heard the gunfire in the wee hours of the morning.
“I am ready to leave this area. My son is so afraid that we both cuddled up under the bed when we heard the shots. Right now, he is so shaken that he don’t want to come outside to go to school,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Griffiths said Greater Central Village continues to be a hotbed of crime.
“We won’t relent in our pursuit of criminals to make Jamaica a safer place,” he said.
Wednesday’s gun find brings to six the number of firearms seized in Central Village in less than a month.
The incident is being probed by the Inspectorate and Professional Oversight Bureau and the Independent Commission of Investigations.