Crime Roundup/ Road Safety: Crime and violence, especially murder, continue to plague the beautiful Island of Jamaica. But there are a myriad of other pressing problems, including carnage on our highways.

RACE COURSE, CLARENDON, Jamaica–Law enforcement officers in Clarendon reported that on Thursday, November 9, 2023, two men linked to a reported flour-for-cocaine scam were shot, one fatally and the other hospitalized.

The authorities identified the deceased as Hakeem Thompson, o/c ‘Logan,’ age 25, a late fisherman from Banks District, Race Course in Clarendon.

According to reports, at about 7:30 p.m., Thompson and another man were walking along a roadway in Coffals, Race Course, when three vehicles, including a white Probox motor car, pulled up alongside them and opened fire.

Thompson and the man reportedly ran into bushes, but the gunmen pursued and shot them multiple times before escaping.

The police responded and found both men suffering from gunshot wounds to their upper body. The officers rushed the men to the hospital, where Thompson was pronounced dead and the other admitted.

The police theorize that the attack stemmed from a reported flour-for-cocaine scam that took place one day before the shooting.

Police said the flour-for-cocaine scam has plagued the southern sections of Clarendon for years.

The police are investigating.

A lone thug shot three, two fatally, in Gregory Park.

GREGORY PARK, STCATHERINE, Jamaica–The police in St. Catherine responded to a shooting scene in Gregory Park on Saturday night, November 11, 2023, where gunmen shot and killed two men and injured another.

The authorities identified the deceased as Cedric Crooks, 46, also known as ‘Gungo,’ and 47-year-old Michael Manley, also known as ‘Bada Bada,’ both of Gregory Park addresses.

Reports state that three men were at a bar in the community when a lone gunman accosted them and opened fire.

Crooks and Manley reportedly received gunshots to the head, while the other man was shot in the chest. The suspect escaped on foot within the community.

The police transported the victims to the hospital, where the authorities pronounced Manley and Crooks dead and admitted the unnamed man in serious condition.

The police have not established a motive for the shooting.

Two women en route to a funeral killed in deadly car crash.

BRACO, TRELAWNY, Jamaica–Road safety authorities reported that a three-vehicle collision along the Braco Main Road in Trelawny on Saturday afternoon, November 11, 2023, left two women dead and five hospitalized.

According to reports, the deceased women were traveling in a white Toyota Isis along the Braco Main Road when the driver reportedly overtook a line of traffic and ran into a Kia Sportage and another car near the gates of the former Melia Braco Hotel.

None of the occupants in the third vehicle received any injuries.

The unidentified women were en route to a funeral in Jackson, Trelawny, when the deadly accident occurred.

Bartender dies in St James crash.

MONTEGO BAY, ST JAMES, Jamaica–The St James police have launched an investigation into the cause of a crash that claimed the life of a man in Albion, Montego Bay, on Saturday morning, November 11, 2023.

The police identified the deceased as Leon Lewis, a bartender of a St James address.

According to reports, at about 6:00 a.m., Lewis was traveling in a Toyota Vitz motor car along Albion Main Road when it collided with a Toyota Axio motor car.

The occupants in both vehicles sustained injuries. The police rushed them to the hospital, where Lewis later succumbed to his injuries.