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Update | Downtown MoBay killing possibly connected to Salt Spring gang war

Published:Tuesday | October 31, 2023 | 9:21 PM
According to police reports, explosions were heard and the deceased was seen lying along the roadway with gunshot wounds to the upper body. - File photo

The police believe the killing of a man in downtown Montego Bay, St James, Tuesday afternoon might be connected to the upsurge of gang violence in Salt Spring, St James.

The man, believed to be Everald Appleton, 39, of Halls Lane, Salt Spring, was shot on Union Street about 5:15 p.m.

“We believe the gang warfare is now playing out in the town,” said a high level source at the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

According to police reports, explosions were heard and the deceased was seen lying along the roadway with gunshot wounds to the upper body.

His death follows the killing of 22-year-old Imani Jarrett of Refuge Lane, Flower Hill, and 30-year-old Odane Smith, otherwise called 'Puns', also of Flower Hill and Logwood, Whithorn in Westmoreland, last Thursday.

Smith, who was out on bail in relation to murder charges in Westmoreland, and his common-law partner, Jarrett, were taken from a taxi they were travelling in and shot several times by gunmen just outside the Salt Spring Primary School.

Both of them died on the spot.

The following day, a father and his son, of a Flower Hill address, were shot, allegedly in retaliation. The father died while the son remains in hospital.

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