Three men have been taken into custody in connection with a gun attack in which four persons, including a 13-year-old boy, were killed in the volatile community of Hendon/Norwood, early yesterday morning.

"Three prime suspects were picked up in a subsequent operation in the Norwood area," Assistant Commissioner of Police Denver Frater, officer with responsibility for the parishes of Trelawny, St James, Hanover and Westmoreland, told The Gleaner.

Reprisals

When questioned about the possible motive for the incident, Frater said intelligence suggested the homicides were reprisals for Wednesday's shooting death of 19-year-old Jermaine Junior Robinson, also of Hendon/Norwood, by gunmen.

Thirteen-year-old Ricardo 'Punti' Wauchope, 16-year-old Richard 'Pete' Wauchope, 19-year-old Richard Henry and 46-year-old Albert Smith were shot and killed by gunmen about 3 a.m.

It is said that Ricardo and his mother were at home when armed men kicked open a rear door to their one-bedroom board dwelling.

The men took them to a neighbouring house where Richard was dragged out and shot, along with his 13-year-old brother. Smith and his stepson Richard 'Ray Ray' Henry were also killed.

The mother managed to escape. The gunmen torched both houses before making their escape. One house was completely gutted and the other was partially burnt.

The deaths follow a series of murders in Montego Bay. One week ago, seven persons were shot, four fatally, in the nearby Green Pond community. The killings have pushed the murder toll in Montego Bay to 200 since the start of the year, 13 more than the figure reported for 2007.

St James' murder trail 2002-2008