BUNTING’S STATEMENT ON HANOVER MASSACRE

National Security minister condmens this morning’s barbaric act in Hanover and calls on all Jamaica to take a stand against criminals
The entire nation is shocked and horrified at the tragic death of six Jamaicans at the hands of cold hearted and evil killers. The continued killing of individuals, many of them innocent victims of lottery related conflicts is destroying the very fabric of our society.
I cannot imagine the pain and grief being experienced by the friends and relatives of this family, absolutely nothing can justify this wanton and wicked act. As Jamaicans we must ask ourselves how did we as a society become so callous and evil?
The Commissioner and I are here to express our sympathy for the bereaved and to assure you of our full support to the community as you deal with this extremely tragic event.
All of us as Jamaicans must condemn in the strongest terms this barbaric act, take a stand against the violence producers in our communities who will stop at nothing to exact revenge and to achieve their evil intentions. This circle of violence fueled by greed and revenge must be stopped.
The Security Forces have been working around the clock to prevent these senseless acts of violence but need more support from members of the affected communities to reject the culture of violence and to provide the police with actionable information to prevent incidents like these and to bring the offenders to justice.
We are seeing how much of a danger lottery scamming is to the security of our country; we are paying for it with the precious lives of innocent citizens, men women and children. This morning’s heinous crime shows that scamming not only affects those who participate and directly profit from it; but those who associate with them even where those associations are distant. We have seen where elderly persons and the very young are being targeted, not because they were directly involved in lottery scamming, but because persons with whom they were associated were involved in this illegal activity. This price is too high, and as a society we must put a stop to this evil practice before it destroys our country, family by family, community by community.
I commend the police for their swift and professional response to the situation and assure the public that we will not be deterred in our efforts to reverse the increase in violence and murders in Jamaica.