The police are reporting that the five men who were killed in Salt Spring, St. James early Sunday morning may have been targeted because they defied orders to join the notorious Montego Bay based Stone Crusher Gang.
The police say they will be in the community to provide adequate protection even though this poses a major challenge for policing.
At the house where Damion Brooks, Byron Powell and a still unidentified man were killed and their bodies badly burnt, the hose that was used to douse their charred remains was still connected to the pipe.
A foul stench emanated from a mattress on which one of the men was killed.
Cornel Brown, 20, Elton Hines, 23, both of Bird Hill in Salt Spring, are the other victims.
Superintendent Merrick Watson, Commander for the St. James Police Division, along with Denver Frater, Assistant Commissioner for Area One visited the area where the men were killed.
Superintendent Watson said the police theorize that the men were killed because they refused to join the Stone Crusher Gang.
He said the dead men were not on their wanted list but at least two of them were persons of interest.
Superintendent Watson promised a stable police presence in Salt Spring, despite the fact that the community is difficult to police because of its terrain and overall structure.