Gunmen used child as decoy to ambush police in St Catherine, one officer killed
Armed men in Six Miles, St Catherine, feigned surrender using a child to lure police before opening fire, killing one officer and critically wounding another.
Child used as shield in fatal Six Miles police ambush, JCF confirms
Gunmen involved in a deadly firefight with police in Six Miles, along the Sligoville main road in St Catherine, on Friday used a 10-year-old girl as a false surrender decoy before opening fire on officers, according to jamaica-gleaner.com, which spoke to Senior Superintendent Dennis Brooks, Senior Communication Strategist for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), at the scene.
One police officer was killed and a second critically wounded during the exchange. A third officer sustained a non-life-threatening graze wound.
The gunmen were shot and killed during the firefight. Two firearms were seized, and Brooks indicated there was evidence that additional weapons had been used during the prolonged operation.
Child held at door as lure
Brooks told reporters that the gunmen held the child at the doorway of the house where they had barricaded themselves and indicated they were willing to surrender.
"I can confirm that the gunmen sought to utilise a child to effect a false surrender, and that speaks to the very callous nature, the ruthless nature of these people who the police have to deal with," Brooks said.
When officers moved toward the door to retrieve the child, the men opened fire from behind her — striking the two officers who were most seriously wounded.
"It was declared that they were willing to surrender, and when the police approached seeking to retrieve the child, that fire was opened upon those policemen," Brooks added.
The girl was found with gunshot injuries after fleeing the house and was taken to hospital, where she remained in critical condition.
Two children and a woman rescued
A woman inside the house had earlier informed police that children were on the premises. Officers subsequently rescued her and two children, including an infant of approximately six months old. The woman is expected to be questioned by investigators.
Brooks said the gunmen repeatedly signalled a willingness to surrender throughout the operation, which began before dawn and lasted for several hours. He said officers were obligated to treat each indication seriously.
"If there is an indication, even the slightest indication, that they are willing to surrender, then we are going to engage that possibility. The fact that they utilised this reality made it a challenge because they would have pretended that they were inclined to surrender," Brooks said.
Officers faced dual objective
The senior superintendent said the presence of civilians inside the dwelling meant the operation had at least two goals: apprehending armed offenders and protecting innocent lives.
"It would not just be to arrest violent offenders, but also to secure the innocent," he said.
Brooks said the scale of ammunition expended during the exchange was evidence of the firepower the men possessed.
"It only speaks to the reality that these are heavily armed individuals, that they had the capacity to engage the security forces in sustained gunfire. They had multiple weapons and a large cache of ammunition, clearly," he said.
Operation linked to high-risk targets
The operation was connected to a high-risk target believed to be associated with another high-risk target in the St Andrew North Police Division, Brooks said. He did not name the individuals.
He said further operations had been conducted following the initial engagement, though he declined to confirm the number of rounds fired during the incident.
Brooks used the incident to underscore the level of threat officers routinely face.
"These are the criminals that we face, and when we tell the Jamaican people that we have information that is credible about the capacity of these people to do considerable violence, this is manifestly what we are talking about."
Source: Google News JM — Crime