The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

POLICE may have located the car used in Friday’s shooting deaths of Jermaine Rolle and Byron Saunders aka “Bones”, Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander said yesterday.

He also said police had no one in custody in connection with the shootings, but were “on the ground working very hard” to bring Friday’s murders – and three other shootings and a stabbing incident this weekend – to a close.

On Friday afternoon, both Rolle and Saunders were shot and killed just minutes apart in the Yellow Elder Gardens area.

In both incidents, a champagne coloured, heavily tinted Honda Accord vehicle was reportedly seen fleeing the scene.

Yesterday, Chief Supt Fernander said “concerned neighbours” notified police of a car fitting that description left abandoned in the Tall Pines area.

“We believe (it is the car), we are not certain,” he said. “We’re still following that line of inquiry to confirm if this is the vehicle that was used in the shooting.”

The killings both pushed the murder count to 108 for the year.

According to police, Rolle was seated on a No 8 bus as it off-loaded passengers east of Nicholl’s Court. As this was happening, police said a champagne coloured, heavily tinted Honda Accord pulled up behind the bus.

A young man got out on the passenger’s side of the car, armed with a handgun. He approached the bus and fired a shot at an individual on the jitney, whom family members later identified as Rolle.

The bus driver drove straight to the Grove Police Station on Baillou Hill Road to report the matter. EMS personnel were summoned and pronounced Rolle dead at the scene.

Saunder’s death reportedly occurred shortly before Rolle’s demise. According to Chief Supt Fernander, shortly after midday police received reports of gunshots heard in the area of Nicholl’s Court.

Police responded and found the lifeless body of a young man who appeared to be in his 20s lying on the side of the street with multiple gunshot wounds. EMS personnel responded and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police have not ruled out the possibility of the two incidents being connected, but said it was too early in their investigations to say so conclusively.

Police are also investigating three shootings that took place within the last two days.

In the first shooting incident, shortly after 7pm on Saturday, a woman was at a party at Florida Court off East Street when she was shot in her hand. She was taken to hospital where she is detained in stable condition.

Then shortly after 8pm, a man had just closed his business on Soldier Road and was sitting in a rented CRV vehicle with a male friend when two men armed with handguns approached them and demanded cash.

The gunmen shot the victim twice in his body and robbed his friend of a small amount of cash before speeding off in the victim’s vehicle, which contained an undetermined amount of cash.

The victim was taken to hospital, where he is detained in serious condition.

In the third incident, shortly after 3:30am on Sunday, a man was at a nightclub in Coral Harbour when he was shot in his left thigh. The victim was taken to hospital, where he is detained in serious condition.

Police are also investigating a stabbing incident that took place on Saturday. Shortly after 7pm, a man was at Potter’s Cay Dock when he was stabbed in his body. He was taken to hospital, where he is detained in stable condition.

Chief Supt Fernander told The Tribune yesterday that investigations into all of these matters are still underway.