Man shot at candlelight vigil for ex-soldier in Westmoreland
WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – A man was shot and injured at a candlelight vigil for late ex-soldier Kemar Reid at Hertford in Westmoreland on Thursday night.
Reports from the police are that shortly after 7:00pm, men travelling in a white Toyota Axio from the direction of the Cornwall community opened gunfire at the gathering, sending people scampering for cover in different directions.
When the shooting subsided, a man was found suffering from what appeared to be gunshot wounds.
The injured man was transported to the Savanna-La-Mar Public General Hospital by residents. He was treated for gunshot wounds to the right elbow and lower left arm and admitted instable condition.
The incident followed a peace march on Wednesday in Savanna-La-Mar, in protest against the high murder rate in the parish. During the march, Bishop Oneil Russell, head of the Ark of the Covenant Holy Trinity Church, pleaded with persons to “Talk it out before shooting it out”.
Reid, otherwise called ‘Dijab’, was shot and killed on Wednesday, October 19 by unknown assailants while seated at his bar in Hertford.
READ: Ex-soldier gunned down in Westmoreland identified
As of October 18, the parish recorded 124 murders, a 33.3 per cent increase when compared to the corresponding period last year.