Bingo Game - Jamaica: eight dead, including a child
Unknown assailants shot dead eight people at a Jamaica bingo game. Nine others, including a 21-month-old baby, were injured and hospitalized, according to the Caribbean nation's police. A group of men opened fire on a car wash where the game was taking place in the town of Four Paths on Sunday evening, said Deputy Police Chief Fitz Bailey in a social media video. Among the dead were an 8-year-old boy and three women. All resources are being deployed to find and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The act bordered on terrorism, aiming to instill fear in the community, said Bailey. No further details on the possible motive were provided. Prime Minister Andrew Holness convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council. The incident in the southern Jamaican parish of Clarendon serves as a reminder that, despite a 17% decrease in murders this year, the government must intensify its efforts against criminal gangs, he said in a statement. "The Jamaican state will not allow such brutality to be inflicted on our people." Jamaica's murder rate has been one of the highest in the world for years.
The shooting at the bingo game in Four Paths can be considered a devastating example of criminal violence in Jamaica. The act of killing eight people and injuring nine others, including a baby, is a stark reminder of the need for continued anti-crime measures in the country.
