Four killed in Retirement, cops accused of murder 

Western Bureau:

Residents of Retirement, in St James, wept openly yesterday morning as they angrily rubbished the police claim that four men who were shot and killed in an operation in the community had engaged them in a shootout.

Relatives of three of the deceased men identified them as 57-year-old tractor operator Bryan Fairclough Sr; his watchman son, 28-year-old Bryan Fairclough Jr; and 28-year-old Jahmar Ashman, who they said were all employed at a nearby quarry. The residents could not identify the fourth man.

According to the residents, they were alerted to the presence of the police shortly before 6 a.m. when they heard banging on the door of the house where the four men were. They said they later heard the men begging for their lives before gunshots rang out.

‘When wi hear de knocking and come out, dem start run us back in,” said a resident who spoke to The Gleaner.“Three person go up deh, including de man (Fairclough Sr) wife and de police tell bad wud and run dem weh. After dat, we heard de man dem a bawl out fe dem life and a seh dem nuh have no gun and dem innocent. After that, a just gunshot.”

According to the resident, after the initial shooting, Fairclough Sr was taken out of the house alive and a short distance away from the house by the police.

“Dem tek him go down the road and then carry him up back. Then dem tell him fe run and when him run off, dem shoot de man kill him. It was no shootout,” she said.

Efforts by The Gleaner to get an official version of the incident from the police proved futile as the police personnel at the location ignored questions posed to them and checks on the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) website, which at times carries reports on incidents involving the police, had no report on the incident.

However, later in the day, a police source, who is not authorised to speak on behalf of the JCF, told The Gleaner that the operation was carried out in search of wanted men and illegal weapons. He said two illegal guns were seized during the incident.

As the reality of what had unfolded dawned on the grandmother of Fairclough Jnr, she was observed sitting on the ground with her back braced against a zinc fence, crying with her hands raised to the sky as tears flowed down her face. In between sobs, she told The Gleaner that she too had an encounter with the lawmen before the shooting.

“Dis morning dem (the lawmen) come up a mi yard, come knock down mi door and push in mi window and when mi open de door, dem tell me bad wud and tell me fe lock back the door and seh nobody nuh fe come out,” she said. “After dat, we start hear de bui bui (gunshot)… . Dem kill me grandson and him never do nothing.”

Later in the morning, a team from INDECOM visited the community and spoke to several residents, who seemed quite anxious to tell their stories, while other residents looked on, some still crying. 

Yesterday’s killings bring to 11 the number of people killed in confrontations with the police in less than 24 hours between Tuesday and yesterday. Based on statistics provided by INDECIOM, 143 people have been killed in alleged confrontations with the police since the start of the year.                

editorial@gleanerjm.com