Noelita Lawrence
Staff Reporter
Downtown Montego Bay erupted with gunfire in the wee hours of Thursday morning, October 12, leaving two men, a barber and a bread vendor, dead.
The dead men have been identified as 38-year-old Marlon Gayle, a bread vendor of Catherine Lane, and 34-year-old Andra Williams, a barber of Red Dirt, Flanker, both in St. James.
The two men were killed hours apart and metres away from each other.
In the first killing, which occurred about 12:05 a.m., Williams, the barber, was along the intersection of St. James Street and the popular Barnett Street near the police station.
It is reported that police personnel on duty at the station heard explosions and went to investigate.
The report indicates that upon arriving near the scene, a man, armed with two guns, was observed running towards a black motor vehicle when further gunshots rang out.
The man seen running entered a waiting vehicle which then sped off along with another that was parked behind it.
Checks of the area revealed the bullet-riddled body of Williams, who was then rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
BREADMAN CUT DOWN
Just over an hour later, detectives were again summoned into action. This time along the nearby Catherine Lane.
In this instance, Gayle was found motionless and with gunshot wounds.
Police reports are that approximately 1:45 a.m., Gayle’s common law wife was at home with their children when gunshots were heard.
A check was made and Gayle’s body was seen lying with bullet wounds.
The police were called.
No motive has been established for any of the killings.
The latest killings come on the heels of a spate of killings and shootings in and around the outskirts of the second city at the weekend.
In those incidents, two men were gunned down and another left injured.
The latest killings have pushed the murder tally to 241 in the parish since the start of the year.