Multiple fatal shootings soar

Multiple fatality shootings have claimed the lives of 67 people in Jamaica since the start of the year, with the number of people killed in such incidents already surpassing the total recorded for all of 2025.

According to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), the 67 deaths occurred in 26 multiple fatality incidents between January and September 13. The incidents included 13 cases of double fatal shootings, resulting in 26 deaths, while 11 triple fatality shootings claimed 33 lives. There were also two incidents in which four people were killed, accounting for another eight deaths.

The latest multiple fatality shooting occurred on Sunday along Knightsdale Drive in Kingston 20, where two men and a woman were killed. The incident was the third triple fatality shooting in 2026 in which a woman was among those killed.

The police said that a “high-risk criminal target linked to two murders and a series of major robberies and break-ins across Jamaica” was among three persons fatally shot during that operation. Lawman identified the man as Dewar Archibald, otherwise called Max. The identities of the other persons, one of them a woman, have not been released.

Two firearms and ammunition were reportedly seized following the incident. This is the third triple-fatality incident in 2026 in which a woman has been killed. Overall, four women have been fatally shot by members of the security forces since the start of this year. The investigative body further reported that 215 people had been fatally shot by members of the security forces since the beginning of 2026, including 17 in September.

For the corresponding period in 2025, 217 people had been fatally shot by members of the security forces.

INDECOM has raised concerns about the absence of body-worn cameras, particularly during operations involving unmarked police vehicles, apprehensions and incidents involving suspected firearms.