Scott-Mottley demands answers over fatal Sligoville shooting that killed five

Opposition senator Donna Scott-Mottley is calling on the Government to explain the deadly October 16 shootout in Sligoville that left two policemen and three gunmen dead.

Opposition senator presses Government on Sligoville gun battle

The Jamaica Observer reports that Opposition Spokesperson on Foreign, Regional and Diaspora Affairs, Donna Scott-Mottley, has called on the Government to provide a full public explanation of the fatal confrontation between security forces and gunmen that took place on Friday, October 16 in St Catherine.

The early-morning shootout in the Five/Six Miles area of Mount Moreland, Sligoville, left two policemen and three alleged gunmen dead. A 10-year-old girl was critically injured and remained hospitalised.

Scott-Mottley, a veteran attorney-at-law, raised the matter during her contribution to the Senate debate on the Mediation Bill last Friday. She referenced a television news report from October 22 showing a group of pastors visiting the crime scene.

"They were totally overwhelmed by what they saw," she said.

She went on to argue that public concern about how the operation was conducted warranted a formal response from the authorities. "It is incumbent on the government to provide a clear explanation to the public through proper and thorough investigation," Scott-Mottley said, stressing that her remarks were not intended to challenge the mourning of the slain officers but to address broader questions about the conduct of the operation.

Scott-Mottley and other senators had already paid tribute to the fallen officers and offered condolences to their families during the Senate sitting on the day of the incident itself. On Friday she reiterated her condemnation of the shooting, following condolences from Leader of Government Business Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, who had been absent from the earlier sitting.

In the television news report referenced by Scott-Mottley, members of the clergy questioned whether the incident could have been handled differently, while also acknowledging the dangerous conditions faced by security forces. The pastors condemned the actions of the gunmen, offered condolences to the officers' families, and appealed to young men to avoid a life of crime.

Source: Jamaica Observer