Jamaican police officer murders colleague, commits suicide

A Jamaican police officer on Sunday shot dead a colleague before taking his own life at his birthday party.

Eyewitnesses said the two officers had a quarrel that ended up with one shooting the other in the abdomen at a bar in the country's coastal city of Ocho Rios.

The wounded officer was rushed to hospital on a pick-up truck with his colleagues when the shooter shot himself at the back of the vehicle.

Both men were declared dead at a nearby hospital.

Derrick Smith, opposition spokesman on national security, said he was shocked and disturbed at the incident as it raises questions about management of the police force in the country.

"Sunday's murder/suicide brings into sharp focus the temperament of police officers and their capacity to exercise restraint, both on and off the job," he said.

He urges action from Police Commissioner Carl Williams, who, in a statement, expressed condolences to families of the two policemen and promised a thorough and speedy investigation. Endi