UPDATE | Portmore pastor shot near home, dies

Lynval Lewis, the pastor at the Spanish Town Tabernacle and Greater Portmore Tabernacle, who was shot several times near his Portmore home on Monday, has died.

The matter is now a murder investigation, the police say. 

Reverend Lewis was receiving treatment at hospital.

He was attacked just after midday by a gunman who opened fire at him while he was driving from his house on North West 10th Way in Greater Portmore, St Catherine.

The gunmen is believed to have waylaid him.

The incident occurred in the presence of other family members who were travelling with him.

As he came under gunfire, Lewis lost control of the motorcar he was driving, which veered off the roadway and on to a sidewalk, coming to a halt in a clump of small trees, metres away from his home.

Church members have expressed shock at the incident.

The St Catherine South police are investigating.

Up to December 12, the St Catherine South Police Division had seen 100 shootings this year, on par with the figure recorded for the corresponding period in 2021. It had also seen a 15.5 per cent year-on-year decline in murders with 109 people killed this year.

Injuries, robberies and break-ins recorded increases over the period under review, while rape had declined.

Last week Monday, the islandwide murder tally for 2022 stood at 1,442.

- Andre Williams

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