good afternoon i'm milton walker with the midday news a special welcome if you
are watching on onespotmedia.com we begin this afternoon with more on the
two policemen who were shot dead this morning during a confrontation with
gunmen in horizon park spanish towns and
catherine the policemen were attached to the saint catherine north police
division the incident occurred on queens avenue
in horizon park or porter kirk wright is on location and
joins us live kirk good afternoon tell us what do you
know you've been on the scene all morning
well um the latest is that we hear that the police
are following some leads in fact just to be specific
they're following some blood trails it appears
if the person or person who challenged the business this morning um
got shot and i think they also found a shirt with
waterproof with blood on it so they're following that lead at the
moment though the queen's drive where they instant
interface is still cardinal um the military police officers were
here this morning to include the commissioner and his
deputies uh they have left the military creators
also here left but the investigation from the
mid they're here carrying out more in-depth investigation
yeah at the scene um well the center that
is a car that is has some relation with the
men who were in the host is here and yet to be picked up there's a police record
here waiting to move that but for the most
part this quiet community it remains
quiet at this time i spoke with the mayor mayor scott this morning who says
he's surprised um because nothing really happens here
so he was shocked when he heard the news that
four police officers were shot kirk um what can you tell us in terms of
what exactly happened we understand that the
police were in an operation on queen's drive um in a horizon park what do you
know about what exactly happened exactly that's
what the commission i saw this morning in an interview that
they came on an operation they heard that gunmen were in a house
and they came sometime about five o'clock in the morning
and he wasn't prepared to say much but um
highly placed sources police sources told us that the police went there
in search and it appears if the grill the premises was locked but then
when they tried to gain entry they were fired upon
at this moment it appears if it's only one and
one man who challenged them but we cannot confirm
but based on what we're hearing from police sources it appears if one man
challenged him but he was uh he had a high squad weapon and
lots of ammunition um kirk um we're told that the police
recovered a firearm um that is true
the commissioner did say this morning that they recorded a firearm but he
did not see it at the time he gave the interview
so he did say yes uh an emphasis was we forgot
we heard two that the police um left in 15 on the seas we're not sure
is that the two and if that um recovered
who it belongs to but the commissioner did confirm that yes
they recovered and then 16. and the there was up another police unit a
car we're told which was responding to the
the eunuch that was on the fire and there was an accident do
anything more about that incident um i did ask information about
that too that he said they cannot confirm but
we heard that police unit crash overturned
in that two uh cute world of jesus as they call it
belonging to the jamaica defense force also crashed in responding to
this morning's incident but all of that is to be we saw pictures with the
police vehicles um on its head or in the back rather but we're not sure
i'm not sure if that is related to this scene this one
okay kirk thank you very much kirk wright reporting
live from horizon park the scene of this morning's deadly shootout
involving the security forces and gunmen uh sadly two members of the security
forces lost their lives and two others are in
critical condition we are told including a police
superintendent meanwhile reactions are now pouring in
following this morning's deadly incident in saint catherine ocean masters
has that angle the police high command and the political directorates have
condemned the shooting of four police officers
and the subsequent death of two of them on friday morning in horizon parks and
catherine police commissioner major general
anthony anderson says the officers were responding to a tip
regarding armed men at a residence in the community
it's understood that on their arrival they were greeted with heavy gunfire
from men with high-powered rifles general anderson responded to a question
from tvj's kirk wright about what went wrong on the operation
what went wrong is that we have people with high-powered weapons and
rifles criminals with them in jamaica shooting at people
that's what went wrong the police were caught off guard
they were not cut off that there's no indication of that
whenever we go into an operation we have to take
due care of how we approach things the people we confront have no such
restrictions he says this occurrence underscore is a
major problem in the jamaican society that of the prevalence of criminality
it's a point which was also shared by national security minister
dr haris chang the tragedy should remind the country i will live off
evil and criminality that the police face on a daily basis
unfortunately many times some of the comments
would suggest almost the other way the police there
is the bad guy in the scene but this is what i've come to understand
prime minister andrew honest says he's saddened by this morning's incident
he says the government will provide support to the families and the police
high command and will leave no stone unturned in
bringing those responsible to justice this is a trying time for the jcf
however i want the committed and hardworking
members of the jcf to know that all well-thinking jamaicans stand
with you do not be deterred even in a time of
crisis the criminals are at work we must redouble our efforts against the
criminal element they must face justice opposition leader
dr peter phillips says the attack on the police
demonstrates that there is no longer any respect for law
it's clear that the crime problem is becoming more and more
legal deadly and difficult for the country
and it suggests to me that we need to go beyond the tactics and the strategies of
the movement chairman of the police federation
sergeant petraro says the act which was carried out against its members
has not weakened their efforts we will be unrelenting
in our pursuit to find those persons who are responsible
for the shooting data for colleagues this morning
certainly we invite the jamaican people to
come out against the criminals in this country
who are putting our colleagues in hands danger
and are making jamaica an unsafe place for law abiding citizens
ocean masters
and we're staying with this story because there's quite a scene at the
spanish stone hospital in the old capital where
lots of um police officers have gathered and we now join kalisha williams
who is on that scene via telephone um kalisha can you describe the scene um
the hospital right now thanks martin so i'm at the accident and
emergency department in the spanish town hospital where
superintendent leon kloonis is currently undergoing
surgery i was told he received four shots but
his condition is stable and there are a lot of police officers on location one
of them one of the officers i spoke with told me
that a team of top medical experts are at his side right now trying to save his
life i saw family members earlier they appear
they seemed devastated uh they were also being controlled by the police officers
on location so right now we're just waiting they're
really trying to be hopeful and hoping for the best uh
so i'll continue to monitor the situation and i'll provide
further updates as they become available kelisha thank you kalisha williams
reporting live from the spanish stone hospital we take a break now on midday
news we'll be right back
welcome back continuing the news the central isle police have arrested and
charged two men in connection with a spate of robbers in the parish over the
last two months the men whose identities have been
withheld pending further investigation were
arrested during an operation on june 4. they were subsequently charged with two
counts of robbery with aggravation commanding officer for the center
elizabeth police division deputy superintendent
nada sims told members of the media that one of the men
is believed to be the mastermind behind the series of robberies
we have him scheduled for several id periods
um because of the course of the investigations
and the sensitive nature of it and and so forth we have not yet diverged that
information but in short order we will read that information
between april and may saint elizabeth was rocked by a series of daylight
robberies which resulted in several businesses being robbed
of approximately 10 million dollars 26 of the 28 deportees who arrived in
the island recently tested negative for covet 19 and have
been released from state quarantine they were discharged yesterday the other
two deportees tested positive and remain in isolation they were
deported from the united states on may 28th
the health minister dr christopher tofton has sought to explain why the
government has now decided to test tourists arriving in
the island as of monday speaking at a press conference yesterday
dr toughton said the government wants to ensure it has enough information
about the people entering the country prince moore reports
this is the announcement from tourism minister ed bartlett at a press
conference on thursday all visitors and locals alike
who are coming in on the as of the 15th will be tested it's a reversal of the
previous position that testing for tourists would be
voluntary on thursday the parliamentary opposition
said it supported the call by the medical association of jamaica maj
for monetary coronavirus testing for tourists when the country opens to
international travelers on monday maj president dr andrew manning said
arrangements could also be made for source countries
to organize testing before the passengers leave
at thursday's press conference health minister dr christopher toughton
sought to explain the reason for the change in position so over the last two
weeks two weeks meaning up to this weekend we
have allowed significantly more jamaicans to come
into the country and we have tested everybody and we have
tested everyone and to the extent that we have had the
results so far we have had a 1.6 positive rate
now what that says coming from a jurisdiction that is supposed to be high
risk many of them out of new york and florida
it says to us that that area at least gives us a risk profile
that we can adjust the testing mechanism while we put other contingencies in
place to mitigate that relatively limited risk he says the
government wants to ensure it understand the risk
profile of tourists entering the country and so gathering information on tourists
is important and i want to make it clear for those
who think that we have been somehow discriminating in support of one
over the other or in support of the tourists over the
jamaica and that no such thing we just are trying to understand the
different populations in protecting our population and frankly
speaking protecting our economic interests because tourism
is an important economic interest provides jobs provides
a lot for both the direct involved and those who are indirectly involved
prince moore tvj news a pnp candidate for east portland bishop
dr purcell jackson is supporting raft captains claims
that they have not received any government assistance since the kobit 19
pandemic on wednesday tv news aired a story in
which a member of parliament for west portland darren vazquez
rubbish claims that the rafsman in the parish have not received corporate
relief from the government but dr jackson insists that no
assistance has been provided by the government
to the wrassman since covet 19.
whatever uh mr baz may have said misrepresented the truth the truth is
they have got no money what they got were some savings
from their own money that were given back to them
so how can it be that you make a promise these men
rely on rafting for a livelihood i know you're going to call go on tv and
later they call them in a liar it seems somebody is a liar but not
these raps men because by my account they have got
nothing at all just come like this sounds like to me
political buddhism that has to stop
in sports stakeholders of the local horse racing industry are expressing
delight at the news that the government is
reopening the industry on june 20 as denise walters reports this comes
three months after a forced lockdown due to the covert 19 pandemic behind me
are the gates to the gregory park entrance of caymans park
soon to be open with the expectation that maybe
funds can be at the track and stakeholders and pointers
are signaling their readiness for the resumption of horse racing come next
week now that we have a date we can fill in
holidays in the condition book so their commission book will be
available to the licensed personnel tomorrow
morning so the new nomination going forward for us saturday
is on a tuesday and if we have a race meet
on our sunday nomination there will be wednesday all in all stakeholders grooms
trainers jackie owner we are very much well prepared we
were prepared for this weekend and we have an additional week so we are
very much ready to put on a good show we're doing all we need to do to make
sure our staff is safe our testing bar and protocols are up to
speed or race day protocols are up to speed and really adhering to
our own recommendations and national guidelines punters
say they too have been waiting with baited breath for the sport to resume
i know a lot of them and i'm glad that the camera spark is open up
i'm one of the fans where is in coming back is good for the people who gambles
i like it as a sport to watch but not too
gambling money why do i want to lose i feel good because
of my life your son's rested on my life
meanwhile chairman of svriel solomon sharp says once they receive approval
for the number of funds to be allowed at the track
an admission fee for pre-sold tickets will be announced
so right now the meadowvale gate is where is used for everyone
and i can safely say that that will be the gate for the horsemen only and there
will be a gate management system that will be set
up on a gregor park side and that is where all patrons will enter
from acting senior jrc veterinarian dr sophia ramila notes
that more patrons could be added after evaluations are done
that's actually a critical part of the proposal to start with we want to
reassess every day looking at what when right what went
wrong seeing how we need to tweak it local racing was suspended on march 21.
i am denise walters reporting from cambridge park for tvj sports
and that's a midday news i'm milton walker join us at 7 for primetime news
on behalf of the news sports and production teams good afternoon