Articles - Bloody Christmas weekend, 17 killed

Jamaica police say 17 people were killed over the long Christmas weekend, including six who were killed on Christmas Day.

Police said that apart from gang –related violence, 11 persons were either shot and killed by law enforcement officials, drowned or died in vehicular accidents.

The police said that the killings took place across the island including the capital, Clarendon, Ocho Rios, Montego Bay and St. Catherine.

In one incident, Neil Gordon, 29, was killed by police after he allegedly attacked a member of a police party with a broken bottle after he was spotted smoking marijuana.

Police said they also shot and killed 23-year-old O’Neil Brown, 23 during a shoot-out with law enforcement officials in the capital on Sunday.

In another incident, 70-year-old Franklyn Cornwall drowned in a river on Boxing Day, while Damon Levy, 20, and Ryan Salmon, both of St Catherine addresses, died in a vehicular accident.