Sergeant Errol Brown's colleagues had made several attempts without success to contact him on his cellular phone.

They subsequently went to the house he occupied at Second Street, Albion, in Montego Bay about 6:30 a.m. yesterday, where his bullet-riddled body was seen lying in the yard.

"The man head cap come off clean, clean. Him mash up bad," said one policeman, who commented that about eight spent shells compatible with those used in AK-47 rifles were found at the scene.

Gun missing

It was also discovered that his killers left with his service pistol. Residents in the area reported hearing explosions Wednesday about 9:00 p.m. But a subsequent check of the area by police turned up nothing.

Brown is the second policeman to be killed in Montego Bay, St. James, this week. Fifty-three-year-old Sergeant Alan Lindsay was shot and killed on Sunday as he drove a marked police vehicle in Dallas, Glendevon.

Seargeant Brown, who was attached to the Area One Highway Patrol, is the fourth member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force to be murdered in Montego Bay since January.

On November 8, armed men shot and killed Constable Cornel Lewis, 34, in the upscale Mango Walk community. Earlier in January, 50-year-old District Constable Luke 'Collymore' Rhodes was attacked by gunmen in downtown Montego Bay.

"The intentional targeting of our law enforcement personnel is an attack on the entire nation and efforts will be intensified to rid our society of the scourge of crime," Security Minister Derrick Smith said in a release yesterday.

"We must continue the fight as a nation against these vicious killers, and I urge anyone with information that can assist the police in their investigations to come forward."

Mr. Smith also reminded law enforcement officers to be vigilant on duty, and as they go about their personal daily activities.

Six policemen have now been killed in just under a month, the most high-profile murder being Assistant Commissioner of Police Gilbert Kameka, who was gunned down in Irish Town, St. Andrew, last week Thursday. That same morning Constable Valentino Chambers was gunned down as he drove to work along Slipe Pen Road, Kingston.