Cousins gunned down in Trelawny

Two men, who the Trelawny police say are cousins, were shot and killed by armed men along Peel Street in Falmouth on Thursday morning.

They have been identified as Fabian Williams, 25, and Chevan Williams, both masons, of Grants Bailey district in Brown's Town, St Ann. Reports from the Falmouth police are that about 2:30 a.m., both men went to a shop to purchase items. While on their way back to the house where they were staying, they were ambushed by armed men who opened gunfire hitting them multiple times.

One woman, who lives in Draggy Bank, the section of Falmouth where the killings took place, said she heard the sounds of gunshots but initially thought the explosions were coming from a motorcycle.

"I thought they were the usual bike men riding around with their bikes. I don't know the men but they didn't have anywhere to run to because it is all mangrove down here," she said.

Head of the Trelawny police, Superintendent Winston Milton, said Thursday morning's killings bring to 21, the number of murders committed in the parish since the start of the year.

"The murders, in the majority of cases, involve migrants to the parish. They are either victims or perpetrators. It now means that the police will now have to keep a close eye on the people coming into the parish," Milton said.

The two men are said to have been carrying out construction work in the Falmouth area and have been staying at the house on Peel Street. A restaurant operator described the deceased men as jovial.

"They would come to buy their dinners and were quite friendly with other customers. They waited their turn without making any fuss," she said.

- Hopeton Bucknor and Leon Jackson