Jamaica declares state of emergency after two shootings over weekend

Jamaica’s prime minister has declared a 14-day state of emergency in the southern parish of Clarendon amid fears of further violence following two shootings Sunday that left eight people dead and nine injured.

Seven people were killed when gunmen fired indiscriminately at a birthday party in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon; the eighth victim was killed in a second shooting.

A seven-year-old boy was among those killed and police confirmed a one-year-old child was injured.

The government did not immediately specify what the emergency measures would be, but they can typically involve nighttime curfews, longer periods of detention without formal charge and giving police the power to search properties without a warrant.

“This is an opportunity for the government to fully mobilize to seriously address the issue of gangs,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said at a news conference Wednesday. “We cannot allow murders to be normalized in our country.”

Holness added that he hoped the move would prevent retaliation, saying intelligence had warned there was a “very high likelihood” of retaliation attempts.

Acting Police Commissioner Fitz Bailey said the government’s response had been “swift and effective”, with five people already arrested and an illegal firearm seized.

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang attributed the recent killings to an escalation of gang turf warfare and said a similar state of emergency in the parish in November 2023 had led to a 50% reduction in shootings.

On Monday, the prime minister promised that authorities would “tackle the gangs once and for all.”

Describing the incident as organised crime and “an act of terrorism”, he pledged to “leave no stone unturned” and work with partners “to arrest those overseas who facilitate, direct and finance criminal operations” in Jamaica.

Last year, a study by Insight Crime ranked Jamaica as the second deadliest country in the Latin American and Caribbean region, with 60.9 homicides per 100,000 people, just behind the small island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Holness noted that although the number of gangs estimated to be active in the country had dropped from 400 to 185 in five years, the numbers remained “very high.”

At the regional level, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) has expressed concern over the alarming epidemic of violence and crime in the region. Country leaders have agreed on a series of measures to combat the rise in gun violence, including strengthening law enforcement and halting the importation of illegal firearms.

According to U.S. government data, about 87 percent of the guns found in the Caribbean originate in the United States.