House where four-year-old child was killed was not targeted, SSP Samuels
Published:Saturday | January 10, 2026 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Eron Samuels, the commanding officer for the St James Police Division, is dismissing suggestions that the house in which a four-year-old was killed on New Year’s night was deliberately targeted by the police during an alleged shootout with gunmen.
Samuels, who was speaking during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation’s (StJMC), said any such suggestion is irresponsible. He said the incident, in which four-year-old Romaine Bowman was killed, is being investigated.
According to the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) own reports, the incident unfolded when police went to the area in response to reports about gun salutes to mark the new year.
“While the police officers work, if they come under attack, they will defend themselves and incidents will happen. But it is very unfortunate in this situation that a four-year-old succumbed to injuries during that gunfight,” said Samuels. “There is an active investigation going on, and I do not want to speak much on that, but what I will say is that it is very irresponsible to say that a house was targeted, very irresponsible.
“We were called to the community because of gun salutes, and it was the only location in the division of St James that had gun salutes, and stemming out of that, the incident happened.
“Everybody speaks of the four-year-old child, but two other persons also lost their lives, and we are never happy at all when persons lose their lives.
“There is an investigative process and we will allow that to continue, but I could not let it pass that it is said that a house was targeted.”
NO DUE DILIGENCE
Samuels was responding to comments made by Michael Troupe, the councillor for the Granville division, who had expressed a view that the police did not do any due diligence before entering the area.
“It was unfortunate that we lost a four-year-old child on the tip of the new year, and I am not here to blame anyone, whether ‘he, she, or the old lady’, because you have an active investigation. But what I want to recommend to the superintendent, going forward, is that sometimes when you target an area, you should have a joint patrol, as there must be a team going in from before to scan the area,” said Troupe.
“If you are looking for targets, you cannot just say, ‘He’s here, there or anywhere’. That fatal night, when the team went in … that house that was targeted, it was two mothers, a mother and a daughter and grandchildren. I just want to say to the family, who might be listening, that justice will come once we have an accurate investigation,” added Troupe.
Charles Sinclair, the StJMC’s councillor for the Montego Bay North East division, said Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) exists to investigate such incidents involving police personnel and should be allowed to do so without any attempts to influence them.
“You cannot just say that police go around and do these things; we were not there. Everything is investigated, and if any citizen has information that is relevant or appropriate to whatever may have happened in a situation involving a member of the JCF, they go to INDECOM and give a statement,” said Sinclair. “Let the chips fall where they may. But to go around and accuse, I think it is unfortunate, and we need to get out of that, because we were not there…for Councillor Troupe to say that, I think it is inflammatory.”
During the meeting, it was disclosed that St James recorded 58 murders and 62 shootings during 2025, down from 125 murders and 111 shootings in 2024. Additionally, plans are in place for greater collaboration between the St James police and citizens during 2026, in an effort to reduce murders for this year to less than 50.