Four-hour seige rattles Mandeville

A dispute over the price of a tray of eggs is what may have set off a deadly chain of events in Manchester on Tuesday, which ended when a thug, armed with two guns and more than 500 bullets, was shot and killed after a fierce stand-off and gun battle that lasted more than four hours.

When the smoke cleared, an Omni multi-calibre 5.56 rifle, a Beretta 9 millimetre pistol, and more than 500 assorted rounds of ammunition were found inside the Mandeville apartment where the gunman was holed up, the police commander for the parish, Superintendent Carey Duncan, disclosed.

“The Omni rifle is capable of firing different assorted rounds [of ammunition],” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Calvin Allen, head of the police Area Three.

Cops also seized several magazines, including high-capacity “drum magazines” for the rifle and an “extended magazine” for the pistol.

“He fired close to 100 rounds [bullets] after us,” Duncan told The Gleaner, making reference to members of the police SWAT unit, the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Division, the Fugitive Apprehension Team and the Jamaica Defence Force, who were part of the operation.

“He was there reloading and reloading and picking off at us.”

A policeman sustained minor injuries while two service vehicles were damaged.

Up to late yesterday, investigators were still trying to identify the slain gunman.

The chain of events began unfolding shortly after 7:30 a.m. when Adrian Bernard, a 30-year-old accountant, was found dead from gunshot wounds inside his car along Caledonia Road, in the heart of the mid-island town.

A motive for Bernard’s killing is unclear, but Duncan said investigators are probing reports that it was related to a dispute “over eggs and egg prices”.

“I think he was targeted. I think some egg and the buying of eggs … something took place there with him and the same suspect that was shot and killed. We are trying to confirm that,” the senior cop disclosed.

Initial investigations into Bernard’s killing led the police to a location where the armed thug barricaded himself and opened fire at cops.

Multiple videos posted to social media while the drama unfolded showed the location to be an apartment complex in the town.

The videos also captured portions of the fierce exchange of gunfire between the suspected killer and members of the security forces.

The stand-off lasted “over four hours” before law enforcement personnel breached the premises, but the suspected killer refused to surrender, according to Duncan and Allen.

“He engaged us again and was eventually shot and subsequently died,” Duncan said.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com