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KINGSTON (Reuters) – Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness today declared a state of emergency in the Caribbean nation’s southern Clarendon Parish after multiple shootings on Sunday evening left eight people dead, including a seven-year-old boy.
“This is an opportunity for the government to fully mobilize and get serious about fighting gangs,” Holness said at a news conference in his office. “We cannot allow murder to become the norm in our country.”
The prime minister did not immediately detail what rules would be imposed, but they typically include curfews, longer detention periods without formal charges and police powers to search property without a warrant.
Holness said he hoped the measure would prevent revenge killings, which he said intelligence services had warned were “highly likely” to occur.
Holness said five people have been arrested in connection with Sunday’s shooting.
Jamaica was ranked as the second-most murderous country in Latin America and the Caribbean last year, with 60.9 homicides per 100,000 people, second only to the small island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, according to Insight Crime research.
Holness noted that while the estimated number of active gangs in the country has dropped from 400 to 185 in five years, the number is still “extremely high.”
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been working to combat rising gun violence by strengthening law enforcement and stemming the importation of illegal firearms.
According to U.S. government data, about 87% of the guns traced in the Caribbean came from the United States.
Because of the crime problem, the United States has advised its citizens to reconsider travel to Jamaica and avoid Clarendon altogether, designating the parish a “no-go zone” for U.S. Embassy personnel.
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