Five days into the new year, homicide detectives attached to the St Catherine North Police Division are investigating their third murder in the Old Capital.
The latest occurred in the Rivoli community, where a man identified only as ‘Shabba’ was shot and killed along a dirt track leading to Ray Valley Avenue.
His body was reportedly found some time before 11 a.m. after the police were summoned to the area following reports of gunfire.
Senior Superintendent Howard Chambers, who heads the division, visited the scene, where he met with a group of youths.
“I was just using the opportunity to reason with the community members and encouraging the young people. We want them to just live good and be good citizens to society,” Chambers told The Gleaner on Wednesday.
He said some of the residents expressed a desire to enrol in skill-training programmes to prepare them for the job market.
Chambers said that Rivoli, which has a history of gang violence, has been relatively quiet and last recorded a murder around mid-June 2021.
The now-deceased was a troubled individual who recently returned to the area after a hiatus, The Gleaner understands.
The senior superintendent confirmed that Shabba was known to the police. Chambers urged the residents to remain calm and allow the police carry out their investigation.
“We are still combing the area to get an understanding of what really took place this morning,” the divisional chief said.
A resident who spoke with The Gleaner on condition of anonymity urged the police to crack down on killers.
“Only thing me know cool dem youth yah a fi lick dem, make dem know you serious … . Dem lick two, police lick three. A so me know it work,” the resident said.
Shabba’s murder was the third over a 48-hour period in the division.
On Tuesday, about 11 a.m., 52-year-old Michael Lewis, a fisherman from Lacovia in St Elizabeth, was shot and killed on St John’s Road in Spanish Town.
Hours earlier, Ronaldo Skeen, 18, was also killed in a flare-up of violence in another section of said St John’s Road community.
Up to December 25, 2021, the St Catherine North Police Division recorded a 22.4 per cent and 28.6 per cent reduction in murders and shootings, respectively.
There were 97 year-to-date murders at that time, down from 125. Shootings had slipped from 112 to 80.