SWIFT JUSTICE
Gunmen cut down by cops shortly after allegedly killing businessman
Two of three men who allegedly robbed and murdered a businessman in Swallowfield, St Andrew, were cut down by the police shortly afterwards.
According to the police’s Corporate Communications Unit, the murder was reported to the Police Emergency Communication Centre, which then used the JamaicaEye technology to swiftly mobilise members of the Metropolitan Quick Response Team. The suspected getaway vehicle was intercepted at the intersection of Hope and Trafalgar roads and while the police sought to apprehend the suspects, they engaged the police team in a fire fight. Two of the suspects were killed, while two illegal firearms were seized. A man was taken into custody.
Meanwhile, according to one of his trusted employees, Robert Douglas Fletcher, the slain businessman, was only focused on setting a strong foundation for his four children,
The traumatised worker told THE STAR that Fletcher, 47, who was shot and killed outside of his business establishment, did not deserve to die in such a manner.
“He was a decent man. Him love all of his children gone to bed, that man would do anything for his kids. Whenever we talk, he always talked about his two sons and his two girls,” she said.
Fletcher, the employee said, was someone who was always looking out for others although he became wary of people after his brother was killed by a gunman in 2016.
“Him never trust people after that, but him always try fi help everybody weh him can help. Is like him never know how fi say no. Robert nuh deserve this,” the employee added. She said Fletcher was well respected in Swallowfield, where he had spent most of his youth before migrating to the US.
She recalled the last moments she shared with Fletcher, a licensed firearm holder.
“A just this morning him a say somebody threatened him and say dem want him gun. We see the two man dem a walk come across the road and him say to me ‘watch dem boy yah’,” the employee said. The person said that Fletcher had just stepped outside when the men entered.
“Mi ask him how him a go pon di front like that after di threat weh him get. But by dis time di two a dem come inside and one a dem mussi buy a cigarette. Before mi could a say ‘Robert’, dem shot him from behind ina him head,” she said.
According to Detective-Inspector Damion Burke, the police believe that Fletcher was being targeted by his killers.
“The victim is the holder of a firearm and so we are going with that route. He is also a proprietor, which means it ( murder) can be motivated by extortion. It can be a myriad of things, which the detectives will conclude on from their investigations I am sure,” he said.