Jamaica: One dead, four injured in drive-by shooting in Portsmouth, St Catherine

Jamaica: The Jamaica Constabulary Force confirmed that they are working on major leads into Thursday night’s drive-by shooting in Portsmouth, St Catherine which left one man dead and four injured. The body has been identified as 20-year old Rashad Smith, who had succumbed to his gunshot wounds at the Spanish Town Hospital.

According to police officials, the incident took place at around 9:16 pm, when five men were sitting by a tree on Arundel Road in Portsmouth when a white Toyota Axio pulled up. Three armed men stepped out of the vehicle, who proceeded to open fire before escaping.

Smith was one of those shot and he died later, while four other men were injured. Three of the victims were taken care of and later discharged, but the fourth victim, a 21-year old Jesse James of Portsmouth, remains in critical condition in the hospital.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Christopher Phillips, head of Area Five, said that the officers are actively pursuing persons of interest in connection to the incident. He noted that names will be released to the public once they reach the right stage of the investigation. Police believe that the attack was a result of an internal conflict.

Need for action and better security measures

Family members of Smith, however, insisted that he was not the intended target. They described him as a hard working young man who had only recently secured a job and was about to start a new position the following week. Relatives think he was shot by mistake after being confused with another man who ran the moment gunshots started firing.

Member of Parliament for St Catherine South East, Dr Alfred Dawes along with ACP Phillips and his team paid a visit to the community, and described the incident to be very unfortunate. He said it was the first time in a while that Portsmouth had seen such violence and noted that it was only the second murder in the constituency this year.

Dawes highlighted the need for greater community organization and for more security measures to take place, which may include the use of surveillance cameras to prevent future attacks. The police investigation into the fatal shooting is still ongoing.