Navy vet shot in Jamaica - Seeks funding to return home

A GoFundMe account to raise US$25,000 (approximately J$3.8 million) was launched recently to assist Jamaica-born US Navy veteran Camille Carter-Jones to pay for a medical flight after she was shot and injured at an illegal party in Discovery Bay, St Ann, last week.

Carter-Jones was shot in the knee and thigh during the incident which occurred shortly after midnight in Old Folly on December 27.

"After spending almost five days in the hospital, her right leg is immobile and is in a cast from thigh to ankle. This prevents her from taking a commercial flight back home to the USA," her husband Christie said. Up to press time, the account has raised US$19,000 for an air ambulance from Kingston to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Two people were shot dead while another three were injured. The deceased have been identified as Tamara Kelly, 23 and Rojae Linton, 21, who, according to Senior Superintendent Dwight Powell, head of the St Ann Police Division, may have been the shooters' target.

"Well, what I can say is that the young man that was killed, we know he is not from our jurisdiction and he may have been involved in the illicit lottery scam and may have been targeted as a result," Powell said. "I can tell you that the investigation is progressing very smoothly. We are being assisted by the Major Investigation Division and we are pursuing a few leads but we are still appealing to the public to come forward with any information that could further support us in our investigation."

St Ann saw a 20 per cent reduction in murders and shootings last year and Powell warned persons involved in illicit activities that they will be targeted.

"The warning that I will put out is that they will not have any safe haven here in St Ann," he said. "The initiative we worked on last year was community-related intervention. We are simply going to readjust all that we did last year to include a lot more road policing. I will also be focusing on the human resources that I have to work with, so [there will be] a lot of motivational programmes to get them re-energised to get the job done."