Enough evidence to find the SOE killers, says Chang

WESTERN BUREAU:

Following Wednesday night’s double murder in Bogue Village, which took place just over 24 hours after a state of emergency (SOE) was declared in St. James, National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang is giving assurance that the police have the means to apprehend the perpetrators.

Chang, who toured National Water Commission facilities in Norwood, St James alongside Matthew Samuda, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for the environment, said he expected the SOE to impact the carnage in the parish

“The SOE is not a perfect tool, but it has significantly impacted the level of violence around St James, Hanover, and Clarendon, and that incident was one incident which had a tragic outcome. There is enough evidence to find the players and perpetrators and to deal with them,” said Chang.

“Unfortunately, it happened in the area of a SOE, but it reflects the level of availability of firearms in Montego Bay and persons’ willingness to challenge the law at any time. There was a killing in Bogue just a day before the SOE was declared, involving a particular individual who is from the Bogue Hill area, and this incident appears to have been a reprisal coming out of that event,” explained Chang.

In the Bogue Village incident, four men were shot by gunmen at a CashPot outlet. Thirty-year-old businessman Jermaine Miller, of Bogue Village, and a man identified only as ‘Tallman’, were killed.

“The police have good information and good intelligence and should be able to apprehend the perpetrators rapidly. They have apprehended quite a few individuals who the police have cases against, including a major scammer who may not be a trigger man, but who is critical to providing the tools to pull the trigger and cause violence,” said Chang. “Work has been going on, and we are satisfied with the level of apprehension, but we still need to find more of the killers.”