NINETEEN Jamaicans were murdered between Thursday night and Friday evening, pushing the island’s murder tally to 691 for the year.

Seven of the murders took place in Spanish Town – the St Catherine capital – where more than 100 people have been killed this year.

The police said that about 9:00 pm Thursday two men were standing on White Church Street in the town when a white motor car drove up and shot them. Both men were taken to the Spanish Town Hospital, where Alton Allwood died while undergoing treatment. The other man was treated and released.

Less than seven hours later, at about 3:40 yesterday morning, gunmen struck again in the old capital. This time they turned their guns on three men who were playing dominoes at White Church Street.

According to the police, Delroy Williams, 46, died in the Spanish Town Hospital hours later, while 53-year-old Lascelles Booth of Railway Lane succumbed to his wounds yesterday afternoon. The third man was still undergoing treatment last night.

Gunshots again rang out in Spanish Town within another 20 minutes when Clive Smith, also called “Metro”, met his demise when two armed men approached him as he walked along Nugent Street in the town and shot him a number of times.

And at about 2:00 pm yesterday, Dwayne Miles, 24, was cut down at a construction site on March Pen Road, Spanish Town where he worked as a labourer.

The bloodletting continued at 3:00 yesterday afternoon when Michael James, who was involved in an argument with a group of men over a woman was chased and stabbed to death.

Minutes later, cops in Spanish Town were again called to a murder scene. This time Hopeton Henry lay dead on the Salt Pond Road. He was shot to death.

Meanwhile, the police reported yesterday that three people were killed in Whitfield Town, Kingston, over the same period.

Winston Whyte, a 48-year-old welder employed to Technology Plus Limited, was shot dead on Lyndhurst Crescent as he made his way to work minutes before 9:00 yesterday morning.

The police said that a white motor car drove up to Whyte as he walked along the road, and a man aboard opened fire, killing him on the spot. Whyte was shot in the chest, abdomen and right elbow.

Yesterday, Whyte’s co-workers expressed horror at the gruesome sight of their colleague’s bloodied body lying in the morning sun.

“He was a senior welder and we can’t believe someone would shoot him like that,” one female employee told the Observer, as tears streamed down her cheek.

But even as crime scene investigators combed the area where Whyte was slain for clues, gunshots rang out on nearby Maxfield Avenue.

According to the police, gunmen attacked 32 year-old CD vendor, Gary Hall, and shot him 10 times. Hall was sitting on a stool when the armed men approached him and started firing. He ran and collapsed in a yard at 63 Maxfield Avenue where he succumbed to his wounds, the police said.

Hall’s mother, 56 year-old Millicent Davis, hollered loudly as she stared at her son’s body.

“Lord Jesus, help me,” the woman cried as Hall’s neighbours led her away from the scene.

Hall was the third person to be killed in Kingston 13 in less than 12 hours as the police reported that at about 11:30 Thursday night, 17 year-old Andrew Minto was shot and killed at his home on Norman Lane.

Minto was at home when a group of gunmen barged in and shot him dead, the police said.

And at dawn yesterday, a man known only as “Andre” or “Twin Toe” was shot and injured as he swept his yard at Norman Lane. He was shot in the back four times.

Residents claimed that the recent shootings were a continuation of a gang feud which has been ongoing for months.

The violence erupted after the April slaying of Patrick Gayle, a porridge vendor, metres away from the spot where Hall was killed, one resident said.

“That kick off back the war because before that everything did crisp, but from them kill the porridge man things no right,”one angry man said.

The others killed were:

. Fourteen-year-old Joshua Whyte of Tree Hill, St Mary, who was stabbed to death during a dispute with another boy in Parry, St Ann about midday Thursday.

. Michael Lugg, 41, of Greater Portmore, St Catherine – stabbed to death by two men as he was about to enter his house yesterday morning.

. Roland Lawrence of Johns Pen Road, St Catherine – chopped to death by his brother during an altercation on Thursday night.

. Gary Foster, 31, also called “Gutu Blacks” of Rusden Road – shot dead outside a friend’s house at Rusden Road on Thursday Night.

. Granville Bryan, 26, also called “Colour”, of Bucknor, Clarendon – shot to death in the area at about 11 Thursday night.

. Melleto Johnson, 19, of Race Course, Clarendon – shot to death by two men at a shop in the area at about 8:00 Thursday evening;

. Errol McKenzie, 38, of Spanish Town – shot outside a bar in Portmore, St Catherine at about 10:00 pm Thursday; and

. An unidentified woman, whose body was found on Mannings Hill Road in Kingston yesterday morning. The police said the woman is believed to be in her mid-20s and about 5 feet 6 inches tall. Her body was clad in a blue and white sleeveless blouse and a blue jeans pants.