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At least three people were killed and two injured in a shooting as hundreds gathered for an opposition party political rally in Monetego Bay, Jamaica, Sunday night, the Jamaica Labour Party said.

The gunfire rang out as former Jamaican prime minister and current JLP leader Andrew Holness was finishing a nearly hour long speech in Sam Sharpe Square, Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner reported. Security officers rushed the stage to remove Holness, the paper reported.

A photo posted on the JLP's Facebook page before the shooting showed people packed into the square.

The JLP called the shooting a "barefaced and heartless attack on the democratic process" in a post on Facebook. The party said Holness was in shock and expressing "heartfelt sadness" at the shooting during the party's official campaign launch ahead of Feb. 25 parliamentary elections.

"Tonight my heart is heavy, I am terribly saddened by tonight’s unspeakable incident and my sympathy goes out to the families of those who lost their lives, and my prayers are with those who were injured," Holness said in a statement issued by the party.

I hope everyone is ok. No force of any kind will stop our resolve. Let peace reign in Jamaica. — Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) February 8, 2016

All Jamaicans must stand against violence of any kind. Let us pray for our nation tonight. — Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) February 8, 2016

Jamaica Labour Party General Secretary Horace Chang immediately wrote rival People's National Party leaders and election officials to request a meeting to discuss the shooting, the party said.