Three suspected gunmen killed in road crash

Three unidentified men, believed to be gunmen, died in a motor vehicle crash along the Barbican main road in Hanover yesterday.

Four tourists and a tour bus operator also received injuries and had to be treated at hospital. Investigators also reported that two illegal firearms, a 9mm Single Action Browning pistol, and a 9mm Beretta pistol were taken from the three men. Reports by the Hanover police are that shortly after midday, the three men were travelling in a Nissan Latio motor car heading from Montego Bay to Westmoreland.

While travelling along a section of the Barbican main road, the men allegedly were alerted of a police spot check that was ahead of them. The driver reportedly turned the vehicle and headed in the opposite direction. The driver lost control and collided into a JUTA tour bus which was transporting four tourists from Montego Bay to Negril. The injured were rushed to hospital where the three men were pronounced dead and the tourists and JUTA driver treated. An off-duty police officer who was travelling along the roadway cordoned off the scene which allowed his colleagues to successfully recover the illegal firearms. Commanding Officer for Hanover Sharon Beeput commended the officers in acting swiftly.

"Their actions, along with the actions of the off-duty officer who is vacation, resulted in the seizure of a Browning Single Action 9mm pistol, with a magazine containing 13 live rounds, and a Beretta 9mm pistol, with a magazine containing 14 live 9mm rounds," she said. Beeput also gave an update on the injured.

"Well the tourists and the tour bus operator's injuries are not considered life threatening, but they are receiving medical attention at a medical facility," she said.

Beeput also called on the police in the parish to keep up the high standard of policing which they have been displaying while performing their daily duties despite the challenges.