Lead Stories

Sheena Gayle, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Reverend Keaven Dixon's last posting on Facebook, the popular social-networking portal, on July 21 was a portent of his own death five days later, even as he warned a friend to consider that he could die at any moment.

"Hey, guy! Have you ever stopped to think this could be your last day on Earth, and the beginning of eternity? Where would you spend it? Let us be wise. Time is short."

Now, instead of preparing for a fund-raiser, the Riverside New Testament Church in Hanover will have to plan a funeral for its pastor, who was shot and killed by a gunman at the Hopewell High School on Monday morning.

Dixon, 32, was gunned down as he stood talking on his cellular phone outside the school offices, where he went to collect his acceptance letter for a teaching position at the institution come September.

"We are very shocked and traumatised by the incident. While no school was in session, the daCosta football team was in training camp behind the school," said principal Joyce Irving.

"We are very disheartened by the incident and our hearts go out to the relatives of Keaven Dixon."

The Gleaner understands that the gunman went to the school compound and demanded to speak with the principal. He reportedly pointed the gun at the secretary, who released the buzzer-triggered security door, allowing him into the administrative office.

Principal raised alarm

The gunman then began to bang loudly on the door to the principal's office, as she had locked herself inside. She raised an alarm, and the thug retreated into the schoolyard.

Further information is that during the gunman's escape, he saw the pastor on his cellphone, and he shot Dixon in the upper body.

Dixon died while undergoing treatment at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St James. Unconfirmed reports are that his killer escaped with a laptop and a cellphone.

News of the pastor's demisespread quickly in the district of Riverside. A visit to his church saw many sad faces, as they recalled the pastor they described as a "promising man".

"Jah know, dem kill a good man. Him was a down-to-earth man who got along with everyone in the area, and the person who kill him, fi him conscience nah go make him live long," a Rastafarian interjected, as residents reminisced about Dixon's character.

The Riverside New Testament Church has been forced to postpone its annual rally, which was scheduled to begin today.

St Andrew upbringing

Dixon, who is survived by his wife Gayle and son, Jordan, is originally from Cassava Piece, an inner-city community in St Andrew.

He had attended the nearby Clifton New Testament Church on Mannings Hill Road, where he became a convert and was part of an all-male singing group, Brothers in Christ, which copped second place in the Gospel Festival competition in 2000.

Dixon's aunt-in-law, Lurline Oates, wept openly at the Sandy Bay Police Station yesterday.

"Oh God! Oh God! Keaven nuh dead! Him nuh dead!" she wailed in disbelief. "A him and him two-year-old son go up to the school and dem kill him. Him is a good man, good to him family and the community!"

It was the second violent attack on a New Testament Church of God pastor in five months. Bishop Donald Roberts was stabbed during an attempted robbery at his St Andrew home in February.

Eight hundred and ninety-seven persons have been murdered in Jamaica this year.