CLARENDON, Jamaica — The police have arrested and charged a man who is suspected to be the perpetrator of the shooting and serious wounding of a police constable and another man in Clarendon Friday, July 26.

He has been identified as Kirk Messam, otherwise called ‘Neko’, a 27-year-old deliveryman of Inverness Drive in Sandy Bay, Clarendon.

Messam is charged with two counts of wounding with intent, unauthorised possession of ammunition, possession of a prohibited weapon and using a prohibited weapon to commit a felony.

Reports are that bout 8:30 pm, the policeman was at a church event at Inverness Drive in the parish when he heard explosions nearby and went to make enquires. The officer was reportedly greeted with gunfire.

The police said the officer returned gunfire and the gunmen ran.

When the shooting subsided, the officer was left nursing a gunshot wound to his abdomen, while another man had a gunshot wound to his buttocks.

The police launched an investigation and Messam was later identified as a suspect in the shooting.

He turned himself in to the police, accompanied by his attorney, on Friday, August 2.