A soldier was fatally shot just off Waltham Park Road in St Andrew in what appears to be a targeted attack, which a policeman narrowly escaped. The soldier was seemingly lured to a location, where he told an officer he would be making a drop-off to a female friend.
The soldier, identified as 24-year-old Daniel Crawford, and the police were travelling together in a motor vehicle on Tuesday night when the incident unfolded. According to a report, Crawford mentioned the detour after he received a phone call shortly before 9:00 p.m. When he got off the phone, he informed the cop that he would be heading to Waltham Park Road.
They pulled up at Stephen Lane, where Crawford exited the vehicle. The policeman remained inside the car, waiting for Crawford’s return, and as the minutes went by, the cop grew concerned. The cop attempted to contact Crawford via cell phone, but there was no answer. After efforts to call him proved futile, the cop was met by a man who knocked on the window of his vehicle and told him his friend was calling him.
The officer exited the car and followed the man to a premises along the roadway. The man gestured to the premises and told the cop to head inside, but the lawman became suspicious. In response, the police refused to enter the nearby premises, which was when the man allegedly grabbed the police and tried to haul him inside. However, the cop pulled away, breaking free from the man, and the man reacted by pulling a firearm from his waistband and aiming at the officer.
The cop immediately withdrew his Glock pistol and fired four shots at the man, but it is unclear if any of the bullets hit him. Reports say the armed man staggered into the premises, and as the cop fled the area, he heard multiple shots fired in the direction he was coming from.
In a desperate bid to get away, the officer scaled a fence and made his way through multiple yards. When he reached another road, he encountered a group of approximately five men who allegedly began firing at him as soon as they saw him.
With shots ringing out, the policeman sought cover in another nearby yard and continued fleeing until he made it onto Waltham Park Road. Once there, he flagged down a marked police vehicle and informed fellow officers of the attack. Reinforcements were called in, and a coordinated search of the surrounding community followed.
It was during that operation that Crawford was located with gunshot wounds to the upper body and head. He was transported to Kingston Public Hospital, where medical personnel later pronounced him dead. Investigators have since intensified efforts to track down those behind the brazen attack. JCF later identified two men by their aliases ‘Kim’ and ‘Diddy, who are named suspects in the case. The men are often seen in the vicinity of Boyne’s Road and Kid Lane. Police have urged them to turn themselves in to the Hunts Bay Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).
On Wednesday, the Jamaica Defence Force expressed deep sadness over the loss of Private Daniel Crawford of Bryan’s Land district in Spaulding, Clarendon, and sent condolences to his loved ones.