Police: Murder of bartender a contract killing
WILLIAMSFIELD, Manchester — Police theorise that yesterday’s shooting death of bartender Wendy Harrison at her home bar was a contract killing. But her murder has left many residents of this Manchester community puzzled.
Acting commander in charge of the Manchester police, Deputy Superintendent Lloyd Darby, told the Jamaica Observer that the police were probing angles into the killing.
“We don’t have any leads as to who the shooter is, but we are following other angles as to what might have caused it. We believe it was contracted, based on how the incident unfolded,” Darby said by telephone yesterday.
Police reported that shortly after 1:00 pm, Harrison was pounced upon by a gunman in her bar, which is located at the back of her house. The gunman opened fire, hitting Harrison. He then fled the scene.
Residents of Williamsfield who knew Harrison were in shock when the Observer visited the scene yesterday.
“Me, she and her daughter move very good. She travels [0verseas] all the while and she run her little bar, and I don’t know of her making any trouble,” said a resident, who spoke to the Observer on condition of anonymity.
“She is a nice person; I wasn’t looking for this with her, because I know she doesn’t give any trouble. I feel it and I cried for her,” the resident added.
Another resident described the deceased as “hard-working and determined”.
“She is a nice brown lady. She had a bar up in Content — a neighbouring community — and she locked up that bar and she was on her own. When I come to Williamsfield, I usually come look for her. She was a hard-working and determined woman. I saw her about three weeks ago,” the resident said.
“She used to have a bar near Kirkvine (Windalco bauxite plant) and she locked it down and came here where she lived. She was easy-going,” another resident said.
DSP Darby has asked anyone with information that can assist the police in their investigation to contact the Mandeville CIB at 876-962-2832, the Mandeville police station at 876-962-2250/ 876-962-5138, the nearest police station or 119.