Nationwide News understands that one of the three men killed during an alleged confrontation with the police in Grange Hill, Westmoreland, on Monday had deep ties to the illegal guns-for-drugs trade in western Jamaica.
He is Odain Barron, otherwise called ‘Bududup’ or ‘Barram’.
Barron had been on the police’s radar since 2017 for his involvement in firearms and narcotics trafficking.
Robian Williams has the details.
The alleged confrontation occurred at approximately 4:40 AM on Monday in Stitchy Lane, Top Hill Lincoln, during a police operation.
Fatally shot were Odain Barron, otherwise called ‘Bududup’ or ‘Barram’, 15-year-old Sheldon McCalla and another man, whose identity has not yet been confirmed.
Two illegal firearms were reportedly seized following the incident.
Sources say Barron was a key player in the notorious guns-for-drugs trade.
He reportedly facilitated the movement of weapons from Nicaragua to Jamaica.
He was also suspected of supplying firearms to gangs in western Jamaica, a role that placed him on the police’s radar for years.
Sources say Barron’s criminal history began in his teenage years, at 17, when he was reportedly groomed into illegal activities.
In August 2023, he was charged with the murder of 30-year-old Shantal Calder-Whittingham, otherwise called ‘Pokie’, in Brighton District, Little London.
At the time of Monday’s shooting, he was out on bail for that offence.
He also faced charges of shooting with intent and unauthorised possession of a prohibited weapon.
Monday morning’s incident brings the number of people fatally shot by the police since the start of the year to at least 90.
The circumstances surrounding the latest killings are now under investigation by the Independent Commission of Investigations, INDECOM.
