Murder of returning residents causes concern

Some citizens in Jamaica and the diaspora have raised concerns that there might be a budding trend on the island where persons are being trailed from the island's airports then robbed and killed.

The concerns arose after the deaths of three returning residents who were killed in two separate incidents within two weeks of each other.

Last Monday, 79-year-old returning resident Beresford Shorter, from Omni Mews in Clarendon, was robbed and shot after reaching home from the Norman Manley International Airport, where he went to pick up a friend.

Just weeks before, on February 8, an elderly couple that had just arrived from the airport was stabbed to death in their Newport, Manchester home. Their car could not be located. They are 71-year-old Lansil Gregory and his 74-year-old wife, Corita.

Since then, concerns have been raised that persons coming from the airport are being stalked, robbed, and killed by unscrupulous individuals. Such sentiments were expressed by various users on popular social media site Facebook, who said they were reluctant to return to the island for fear of being trailed from the airport and later robbed and killed.

However, Senior Superintendent Fitz Bailey, head of the Clarendon Police Division, has refuted claims that there is such a trend in his police division or on the island.

Nonetheless, he is urging all persons arriving on the island to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves.

"For any citizen leaving the airport, be cautious of your environment. Watch out for strange people. Use your mirrors to see if anyone is following you," Bailey counselled. "Keep travel arrangements private and confidential, especially when it comes to strangers."

Bailey further said that as an extra security measure, persons could implement closed-circuit television cameras in their homes and business places to aid the police if anything should happen.