Jamaican police offer reward for capture of cop killers

The Jamaica Police High Command posted a reward on Wednesday for the capture of gunmen who killed two policemen and injured a civilian in a roadside shooting spree on Tuesday night.

Those who can give reliable information leading to the arrest and charge of individuals involved in the brutal murder will be awarded 1million Jamaican dollars (8,300 U.S. dollars), according to the police.

It is reported that two police officers and a civilian were attacked while playing dominoes outside a wholesale store on a main road in Jamaica's eastern parish St. Thomas at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday night.

They were shot several times each and were sent to a hospital where both of the lawmen were announced dead while the civilian was being treated.

Preliminary investigation suggests a gunman in relation to the shooting is a well-known contract killer who has attracted the attention of the police for several years, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Ealan Powell.

He told local media that the criminal suspect has been linked to several murders in more than one parish, but it is still too early to confirm the shooting targeting the policemen was a murder-for-hire plot.

Jamaica, with a population of some 3 million, has reported a high crime rate since the 1970s, whose homicide rate was listed as the world's sixth highest by the United Nations' Office on Drugs and Crime last year.

A total of 1,005 Jamaicans were murdered in 2014 and National Security Minister Peter Bunting estimated this year's figure might hit 1,200, as a result of a spike in gang activities in rural areas. Endi