Four men who allegedly engaged the police in a gun battle in White Hall district in Westmoreland yesterday morning were shot and killed. The dead men are unidentified. Three guns were seized in the incident.

Reports are that about 1:30 a.m., members of a police team were patrolling the White Hall main road when they spotted a Nissan Bluebird motor car registered 7528 FC. The policemen signalled the car to stop and the driver complied. Five men reportedly alighted from the car and opened fire at them. The police fired back and the men fled. After a search of the area, four of the gunmen were seen with gunshot wounds. However, the other managed to escape.

Weapons retrieved

An AK-47 assault rifle serial # 8576205306 with six rounds of ammunition, a Ruger Magnum revolver serial # 17255263 with six spent shells and one home-made shotgun with two 12 gauge cartridges were seized. The injured men were taken to the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital where they were pronounced dead.

The police searched the car and found a Compac laptop, along with a handbag containing a United States passport, an IPod, a cellular phone and other personal items which are believed to belong to a 36-year-old American visitor who was robbed earlier.

The Savanna-la-Mar police are investigating.