IN JAMAICA: Riverton residents protest against police killing of 35 y-o Oneil Calvin Thorpe, one of their own....He was allegedly found with his mouth gagged and bullet wounds to his chest..."Just like that; they shoot him and then took him up and drove off with him. That's not right, we want justice," ...He is survived by three children, among them a two-month-old girl.

BY KARENA BENNETT Observer staff reporter bennettk@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, February 24, 2015 

SCORES of Riverton City residents early yesterday gathered on Spanish Town Road in Kingston to protest against the police shooting of Oneil Calvin Thorpe, one of their own.

Residents of Riverton City protest yesterday against Sunday
 night’s fatal police shooting of Oneil Thorpe in the inner-city
 community. (PHOTO: PETE SANKEY)

Thorpe, alias 'Chiney Man', was reportedly shot dead by the police about 9:00 pm Sunday at a dance in the community.

According to residents, the 35-year-old Thorpe was at the dance being held a short distance from his home when police surrounded the area. Thorpe, the residents claimed, was called by police officers who forced him around a corner, after which a number of shots were heard.

He was allegedly found with his mouth gagged and bullet wounds to his chest.

"A girl (woman) at the bar was listening to hear if he was going to scream or anything, but the police stuffed his mouth with his 'kerchief and started shooting him," a distraught sister Shaniel Thorpe told the Jamaica Observer.

"Just like that; they shoot him and then took him up and drove off with him. That's not right, we want justice," she added.

Thorpe was a part-time worker at Kingston Container Terminal. He is survived by three children, among them a two-month-old girl.

Mother of the two-month-old, Nardia Hunt, told the Observer that he was the sole breadwinner for the family.

The Riverton residents claimed that two policemen have been involved in a number of shootings in the community although there has been no recent flare-up of violence.

"One of them is after my brother too," one resident explained. "All the while dem coming down here like dem want to kill somebody, and look what happen. Oneil should have been at work now."

Another sister of the deceased, Delores Thorpe, said the police were trying to cover up what she called the cold-blooded murder of her brother by claiming that he was killed in a shoot-out with the police. more