Grants Pen Shooting Sparks Outrage: Residents Protest. On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, residents of Grants Pen in St. Andrew, Jamaica, set up several fiery roadblocks. This action followed the police gunning down a man during an alleged confrontation in the community.
Residents accused the police of murdering an innocent man. They identified the deceased as Jadean Gooden, also known as “Six.”
According to police reports, at about 4:30 a.m., police officers visited a premises on Grants Pen Avenue during an operation to search for an unnamed wanted man.
While at the premises, the police allegedly encountered an individual who pointed a gun at them. Fearing for their lives, the cops took evasive action and discharged their weapons in the direction of the man.
Unfortunately, the gunman sustained gunshot wounds to the upper body. The officers rushed him to the hospital, but it was too late to save him. Hospital officials pronounced the injured man dead on arrival.
The report said the police recovered one firearm at the scene.
But, concerned residents disputed the police’s explanation of what happened. Instead, they have alleged that the killing was an extrajudicial murder.
Further, one resident said there was no shootout, and the police did not find any guns at the scene.
The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has since confirmed that the Grants Pen shooting is one of three fatal police shootings it has been probing over 24 hours.
One was in Jerusalem Mountain, Westmoreland, and another in Old Harbor, St Catherine, Jamaica.
The authorities identified the victim in the Old Harbor as Shaquille Johnson. The identity of the man from Westmoreland is not yet known.
INDECOM has reported that the recent incidents have raised the total number of fatal shootings by security forces to 133. This includes 22 incidents that occurred in May. In 2024, the security forces fatally shot a total of 189 individuals.