Gunman holds plane and crew in Jamaican resort

KINGSTON (Reuters) - A gunman described as "mentally challenged" was holding six crew members on a commercial jet in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Monday after all passengers on the aircraft were released, authorities said.

A Montego Bay police officer said a shot had been fired after the gunman, who had demanded to be flown to Cuba, breached security about 10 p.m. local time Sunday (0300 GMT Monday) to force his way aboard the CanJet charter flight at Sangster International Airport.

The officer said no one had been wounded.

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding and his national security minister, Dwight Nelson, arrived in Montego Bay early Monday to take charge of the situation in the Caribbean nation's prime tourist resort, Information Minister Daryl Vaz told reporters.

He said the suspect, believed to be armed with a handgun, was a Jamaican national about 20 years old and that his father was among those hoping to negotiate the release of the CanJet crew members.

Vaz said the would-be hijacker seemed to suffer from "mental challenges," but he did not elaborate.

"Originally, his demands were to be flown to Cuba because the flight actually was going to Cuba and then back to Halifax. That really was his demand," Vaz said in an interview withCNN.

"Thank God, there are no injuries in terms of the passengers and that the hijacking is that of a mentally challenged youngster and not anything else that will be any cause of concern in terms of an international incident," Vaz added.

'SHOCKING'

CanJet said the incident aboard Flight 918, involving a Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 182 passengers and crew, occurred after it made a scheduled landing in Montego Bay en route from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Kent Woodside, CanJet vice president and general manager, told a news conference in Halifax that all 174 passengers had been safely removed from the aircraft along with two crew members, but six crew were still on the plane with the gunman on the tarmac at Sangster International. Earlier reports had said five crew members were still aboard with the gunman.

"The sole focus of our efforts is the safe release of everyone involved," said Woodside.

He said all of the passengers aboard the plane, which had been due to land next in Santa Clara, Cuba, were Canadians.

"I was on my way home from the movies and while driving past the airport, I saw a lot of police and people gathered. They told me that a plane had been hijacked by a passenger," said one witness in a telephone call to Radio Jamaica.

"It was shocking to me. We don't want to know that things like this happen in Jamaica. People will turn their minds against Jamaica," she said.

Another caller said the resort city in northwest Jamaica, which is heavily dependent on tourism, had been thrown into chaos by the hostage situation.

"We see this happening in the movies, but we never knew this could happen in Jamaica. I am very concerned," he said.

(Writing by Tom Brown; Editing by Peter Cooney)