The police have taken into custody three men they say are prime suspects in the deaths of four persons in Hendon/Norwood, St James, yesterday.

The men, whose names were not released, have not been charged.

Three teenagers, Ricardo Wauchope, 13; Richard Wauchope, 16, and Ricardo Henry, 19, along with 46-year-old Albert Smith, were killed by gunmen at 3 a.m.

The gunmen reportedly kicked open the front and kitchen doors of two homes and set them ablaze before leaving. It is believed that the men, armed with high-powered weapons, went to the area called 'Warrick' in search of Richard Wauchope.

The men allegedly held on to his mother and his brother and dragged them to a neighbouring house, where they kicked in two doors. Richard was taken outside and shot with his brother. Smith and his stepson, Henry, were then killed.