Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in the Caribbean nation’s southern Clarendon parish after eight people were killed in separate gun attacks on Sunday night, including a seven-year-old boy.
“This is an opportunity for the government to mobilize fully to have a very serious focus on gangs,” Holness told a press conference at his office. “We cannot allow murders to be normalized in our country.”
The prime minister did not immediately detail what regulations would be imposed, but these can typically involve nightly curfews, longer detention periods without formal charges, and the ability by police to search properties without warrants.
Holness said he hoped the measure would prevent reprisal killings, saying intelligence had warned there was a “very high probability” of retaliation attempts.
Five people have been arrested so far about Sunday’s shootings, Holness said.
Holness noted that while the number of gangs estimated to be active in the country has shrunk from 400 to 185 in five years, the figures remain “very high.”
