Another policeman murdered Special corporal shot dead outside Kingston home

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SPECIAL Corporal Jerome Cummings was yesterday shot dead outside his Langston Road home in Kingston, making him the second policeman to be murdered in less than a week.

The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), the police's information arm, said Corporal Cummings, 32, was shot by men who ambushed him as he was about to enter his home about 4:00 am.

The injured corporal, the CCN reported, managed to return the fire, hitting one of his attackers, who died on the spot. The others escaped. Cummings was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he died. Police said they recovered his licensed firearm from the scene.

Cummings' killing came less than a week after the shooting death of Corporal Omar Duncan, who was shot dead by gunmen in Ramble, Hanover last Monday, and pushed to eight the number of police officers slain by gunmen this year.

The slain policeman served the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) for almost 12 years.

Police Commissioner Owen Ellington, who yesterday described the shooting of the policeman as a despicable act of cowardice, raised the threat level against police officers to 'very high'. The shooting of the policeman, he said, suggested that there was a co-ordinated attack on the force.

"The fact that two police officers have been slain in the last week is verification that the criminals have not desisted from their lives of crime," said Ellington.

"The threat level is now raised to very high and as such, I am again alerting members to be extremely careful at all times," the police chief said.

James Golding, acting commandant of the ISCF, said he was saddened by Cummings' passing.

"The entire police force is in mourning as the murder of the special constable is yet another grim reminder of the hostile and challenging environment in which officers of the law have to work," said Golding.

Golding and Ellington expressed condolence to Cummings' family, friends and relatives, and urged members of the public with information to assist the police with their investigation into the incident.

And Peter Bunting, the Opposition spokesman on security, said: "The People's National Party is saddened that on Emancipation Day when the nation commemorates the full freedom of our forefathers from their slave masters, there are still elements of our society which remain enslaved to lawlessness and the ways of the gun.

"We commend the bravery Corporal Cummings showed in the face of the mortal danger he and our security forces face."

The Opposition spokesman reminded the police that they should remain vigilant even when off duty.