HANOVER MASSACRE SUSPECT HELD

The police have in their custody one of the prime suspects fingered in Thursday night’s bloodbath in this rural community, where 10 members of a family were shot, six fatally, by gunmen who sprayed bullets on their five-bedroom board house, then firebombed it.

The suspect was handed over to the police by a relative late Friday afternoon, after the police went to his home and did not find him. Reports say that the police were preparing the process for an interrogation of the detainee, who had not been charged up to late yesterday.

The deceased have been identified as Linett Bloomfield, 62, Mark Bloomfield, 40, Brian Mangaroo, 29, Kerrian Bloomfield, 36, and her two children Alliah Mahabee, 17, and Davian Mahabee, 15.

Linett is the mother of Mark and Kerriann, while Brian is her nephew. The

62-year-old’s husband, said to be over age 70, is among the four hospitalised. The father of Alliah and Davian is also

in hospital.

Reports are that members of the Hanover police division were summoned to the Campbellton community around 11:00 pm after residents reported that they heard a barrage of gunshots.

Upon their arrival in the community, the police team spotted a house engulfed in flames and the fire brigade was called in.

Firefighters, after carrying out cooling down activities, found the charred remains of six family members in the rubble. Four other occupants of the house who were severely burnt were rushed to the Noel Holmes Public General Hospital in the parish capital of Lucea, where they were admitted.

Up to late yesterday afternoon the police were still maintaining a strong presence in the troubled community where residents continue to reel from shock and disbelief over the action that they described as “heartless”.

In the meantime, some of the grief-stricken residents are pointing fingers at one of the victims, who is accused of being the target of the onslaught which claimed the lives of innocent family members.

“Everybody is saying because of that guy, the innocent people dead. Him and some people inna ‘ruption and I understand that them send threat that they are going to kill him,” a resident told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

That theory was also

put forward by police investigators.

The police confirmed that before the shooting ensued, the shooters called out two persons who were at the house, one of whom was among the six later killed, and another who was included in the four hospitalised.

During his visit to the community on Friday with Commissioner of Police Dr Carl Williams, Minister of National Security Peter Bunting appealed to community members that association with criminal elements can result in exposure to harm.

“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to residents of Hanover and indeed all Jamaica, whenever you associate with criminals, whether violence producers or scammers, those who have illegal guns, you put your entire family at risk,” Bunting stated.

He added: “When we do the analysis of victims of gun murder, the vast majority of them are either persons involved in criminal activity or the close family or associates of those involved in criminal activity. So I would appeal to the ladies, stay away from these gangsters, they come to visit, they will put the rest of your family at risk. As you have seen when they get into this reprisal and counter-reprisal violence, they are indiscriminate. They don’t care who is the target from who is collateral damage.”

Dr Williams pointed out that the identities of the killers and arsonists are known to the police.

“There were some disputes from weeks ago; I am not going to speak on the details of them now because those matters are still under investigation but suffice it to say we have a very good sense, based upon our investigation, on what led to these killings here and we are going to use it to aid us to catch the perpetrators,” Williams said.

He also expressed concern over the surge of violence that has dogged Hanover in recent months, lamenting that the onslaught of the family unfolded even as the police have provided additional resources to the parish.

“I was here two weeks ago because I was very concerned about the trend that was happening in the parish and I sought to put some things in place, some additional resources, we sought to strengthen the command in Hanover, we gave them some vehicles and we saw what we saw last (Thursday) night so we know we need to mount a stronger response, as the minister indicated earlier. We are going to have to ensure that the citizens of Hanover can be safe when you go to bed at nights,” the police commissioner pledged.

Bunting was also worried over the unprecedented 54 murders recorded in the normally peaceful parish since the start of the year.

“Ironically, I was speaking at a national security seminar at the University of the West Indies yesterday (Thursday) and I was bemoaning the situation in Hanover (where) we are seeing such rapid deterioration in the security situation here in a parish with less than 70,000 people.

“But since the beginning of September I think we have had more murders in Hanover since the beginning of the month than in Kingston and St Andrew combined,” Bunting bemoaned.