Crime Roundup: Police shot and killed ‘Barber,’ the alleged notorious Clansman the Court freed. Police theorized lost his life because he was expected to ID possible suspects who shot him.
Kalifa Williams, one of the alleged Clansman gang members the court set free at the infamous Clansman-One Don Gang trial, was shot and killed by law enforcement officers during an operation in Wynter’s Pen in Spanish Town, St Catherine on Saturday, November 11, 2023.
Williams, also known as ‘Barber,’ was in custody between 2017 and earlier this year.
According to the authorities, at about 3:15 p.m., a team of crime fighters conducted an operation in the Wynter’s Pen community.
During the operation, the police came under heavy gunfire. The officers took evasive action and returned fire.
When the smoke cleared, the officers found a man suffering from gunshot wounds. The police rushed the injured man to the Spanish Town hospital, where the authorities pronounced him dead.
The police identified the deceased as Kalifa ‘Barber’ Williams, whom the court set free at the Clansman trial.
During the One Don trial, the prosecution described Williams as a top shooter in the Spanish Town-based gang, but he told the court that he never owned or fired a gun. He had also denied being a contract killer for the gang, as the prosecution alleged.
Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, who presided over the trial, acquitted Williams, saying the evidence against him was unreliable.
Some 15 members of the gang, including leader Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan, were later convicted.
INDECOM is investigating the shooting.
Joe Bell was due to ID possible suspects in the 2021 shooting
Law enforcement authorities said the elderly Clarendon man whose decomposing body residents found on Thursday was due to ID possible suspects responsible for shooting him in 2021.
The decomposing body of Joseph Bell, 60, was found with gunshot wounds at his home in the Reckford district of Clarendon.
Residents reported a foul odor coming from Bell’s house, made checks, and discovered his body.
The police were summoned, and Bell’s partially decomposed body was seen with gunshot wounds to the head and hands.
Investigators have theorized that Bell’s demise may have stemmed from a November 2021 incident in which he was shot.
An identification parade was pending against a suspect in that shooting, according to police sources.
It was further disclosed that Bell was targeted after being accused of being involved in break-ins in the community.
More than 91 people have been murdered in Clarendon since the start of the year.