Five persons were shot, three fatally during a shoot-out between police and gunmen yesterday in the Denham Town area of west Kingston.

The police say that there was a joint police-military team on operation in the area when at about 10 a.m. men were seen in the Little Water Street area of Denham Town. An exchange of gunfire began. During the shooting, four men and a woman were found suffering from gunshot wounds.

They were taken to hospital where three were pronounced dead and two others admitted with injuries. The other men escaped. The police said three firearms were recovered in the incident.

The police have identified the dead as Dwight Pickton also known as 'Mack'; Damion Taylor, 27, otherwise called 'Sharp Shooter' and a man known only as 'Birdie'. The identities of the injured were not released.

But residents have disputed the police's account claiming there was no exchange of gunfire.

"The man dem nuh have no gun. If them did have gun, then the police them would a get shot too. Is another Braeton Seven them waa bring come ah wwest Kingston," one woman told THE STAR.

"Dem ya police ya naa tell you who them come for. Them jus' a behave like Lawd dem play pan earth," another resident exclaimed.

One woman, who claimed to be related to one of the men, said the police ransacked the house and killed the men as they were doing household chores.

"One ah di yute dem a wash out here so, an' di res' a dem in a di house a cook, and dem jus' shoot dem. Dem neva haffi shoot dem if dem claim seh dem want dem. Dem could a carry them in," said another woman.

Superintendent in charge of west Kingston, Delroy Hewitt, said Pickton was wanted in connection with close to half-a-dozen murders in west Kingston, including the shooting death of a footballer in Torrington Park. He added that Taylor, who was also from Torrington Park, was wanted for several murders.

The Bureau of Special Investigation is probing the shooting.