Jamaica Crime News, Montego Bay: A man who the police say has been on the St James most wanted list for the past three years, and who shot and injured a police Corporal during a shootout in Ironshore, Montego Bay on Saturday, April 28, was fatally shot and two illegal firearms seized.
He has been identified as Nico Samuels, otherwise called “Bowza” of a Barrett Town address also in St James.
The police stated that Samuels is a former member of the dismantled “Ski Mask Gang” which operated out of Barrett Town. He was being sought in connection with several murders within the parish, including a triple murder in Barrett Town in 2017.
The police also pointed out that the wounded police corporal was rushed to hospital, treated and is presently admitted in stable condition.
Reports are that shortly after 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, a team of officers went to a house located in the vicinity of Sugar Mill road in Iron Shore to effect an arrest on Samuels and another man.
It is further reported that upon reaching the premises, they came under heavy gunfire from two men, one of whom managed to escape in bushes.
The other man who was later identified as Samuels, continued to fire on the police and had them pinned down for over an hour.
During the confrontation, the police Corporal was shot and injured, and they had to radio for backup.
They were then joined by several joint military teams who locked down the entire surroundings which leads to and from the house, but Samuels barricaded himself on the inside and engage the lawmen in a shootout which lasted over five hours.
Samuels was fatally shot in late afternoon and two 9 mm semi-automatic pistols along with several live rounds taken from him.
Samuels was a member of the “Ski Mask Gang” but went rogue after the gang leader and other gang members went to his home in Barrett Town and killed his mother minutes after they set fire to her.
It is also said that his grandmother was also shot and injured during the said incident.
By Henry Bucknor
