Baby in stable condition after father shoots himself dead in Bellas Gate

The little girl is said to be making good recovery after receiving a single bullet wound to her abdomen.

Cleon Blackwood, who is the child’s father, was found dead in bushes with bloodstain coming from his chest following a lengthy stand-off with the police.

Blackwood, a licensed firearm holder, has been of late displaying signs of mental challenges, Old Harbour News understands.

Things came to a fatal end on Thursday of this week when the ex-security guard, who is originally from Water Lane, Bannister, northern Old Harbour, was embroiled in a dispute with the mother of the child from Monday.

During the domestic spat Blackwood, also called ‘Runkus’, went to the residence of the child’s mother in Bellas Gate where he took the child from the grandfather who then made an alarm.

It is understood that the father of two went deep into the bushes with the child after firing a few warning shots upon the arrival of the Brown’s Hall police.

Given the delicate balance that is required of the situation the police sort additional support from officers assigned elsewhere within St Catherine North Police Division.

During the ensuing hours the police, through the mother of the child, tried several times to communicate via telephone with the troubled dad, who at one point told his now ex-fiancé that he was going to kill himself and the baby.

On three occasions shots were heard, the last of which were heard sometime around 5:45 am daybreak.

A search of the area was then carried out during which Blackwood’s lifeless body was found with the child lying on his chest. The toddler was immediately rushed to the hospital, where her condition has been stabilized.

According to several sources, the 45 years old Blackwood had been involved in a common-law relationship with the child’s mother for more than a decade. The couple produced two girls, aged nine and 18 months, and resided in Mandeville, Manchester.

However, after the birth of the second child, Blackwood began accusing his partner of being unfaithful after she moved out of the house while he was working in the United States. Sources close to the family told Old Harbour News that Blackwood was also very abusive towards his partner who was physically abused Monday when they met up.

The former rapid response armed guard of a popular security firm had returned to Jamaica in July with the intention of reconciling matters in the relationship, said a source.

Whatever those differences were, the two never got to patch things up, with the situation taking a dramatic twist on Wednesday night when Blackwood visited the children in Bellas Gate.

What transpired afterwards ended in tragedy, albeit with a glimmer of hope for the baby, who will in all likelihood celebrate her second birthday in a few months’ time after the single shot allegedly from her dad’s gun ricocheted from his body and went through her tummy without damaging any vital organs.

As to how Blackwood took his life that will be determined by a full investigation pending the outcome of the pathologist’s report.

Editor’s Note: Contrary to reports elsewhere in the media, the incident did not occur in Brown’s Hall, which is five miles from Bellas Gate.