Granville shooting fuels outrage as police face scrutiny across St. James and Trelawny

Tensions in Granville, St. James, rose again on Sunday when residents said police shot and killed a woman identified locally as Latoya Bulggin, also called Buju, while she sat in the driver’s seat of a black van. Witnesses claimed officers took her driver’s licence before gunfire erupted. The death came roughly two weeks after protesters began demanding justice over a separate fatal police shooting of a teenager on Mother’s Day, with plans to move demonstrations from Granville Square to Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay.

Member of Parliament Marlene Malahoo, who visited the community, said emotions remained raw and urged restraint while insisting lives must be preserved. She said she expected swift action once footage is reviewed, noting public trust in the system is already low. Residents warned that support for the police could erode unless killings are handled more carefully, repeating that “life is a life” whether or not a person is suspected of crime.

The latest death sits against a wider debate over lethal force in the parish. On 1 January, officers shot and killed three people in Granville—four-year-old Roma Bowman, 16-year-old Cavon Martinez, and 24-year-old Desmond Dunlay—in an incident under investigation by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM). A politician’s description of that event as murder drew a sharp response from police, who urged responsible language so probes are not compromised. INDECOM has reported steep rises in fatal shootings by security forces, including 311 deaths in 2025, a 65 per cent increase over 2024, and has noted that body-worn cameras were not activated in fatal shooting cases it reviewed, including one officer who said he lacked a clip to wear his device.

In Trelawny on Saturday, police said intelligence linked men to an earlier robbery in Stonebrook Estate. Around 7:30 p.m., four armed men reportedly robbed a resident in Hague, another community in the parish. A vehicle matching the robbery description was later stopped; men from that vehicle and from another parked nearby allegedly opened fire on officers, who returned fire. One wounded man was taken to hospital, where he died. His name was not released and investigations continue.

Separately, police charged 63-year-old Solomon Powell, also known as Salah, over the 2014 double murder of Livingston Garvey and Mario Cross on the Dyke Road and along Highway 95 in Portmore, St. Catherine. Four men, aged 18 to 54, were held in St. James after a search at a house on Hillview Close, Rose Heights, reportedly turned up a 9 mm pistol without a serial number and a magazine with 11 rounds.

Political rows intensified over Hurricane Melissa relief after the auditor general’s report. Opposition Leader Mark Golding said that as at 23 February 2026—five months after the storm—the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management had received about J$1.44 billion in cash but spent roughly J$26 million, less than 2 per cent, calling it gross dereliction. Government Senator Marlon Morgan defended the pace of spending, citing billions earmarked for recovery sectors and stressing that donor funds remain accounted for while oversight committees are put in place.

In Trelawny Parish, residents and business operators raised safety and environmental concerns about scrap vehicles and garage operations near the Falmouth sign on Foreshore Road, a main cruise-passenger route. The National Solid Waste Management Authority said enforcement notices have been issued and crane removals are expected soon.

In Parliament, opposition member Nikisha Burchil was stopped by Speaker Juliet Holness while starting a sectoral presentation in Jamaican Creole, triggering national debate on language policy. University of Technology, Jamaica, associate professor Dr Rohan Lewis said Parliament should reflect how Jamaicans speak and argued the issue is not “Patois versus English” but embracing both alongside other languages, while acknowledging the Speaker must uphold standing orders.