Help Gary

ONE DAY after gunmen went on a shooting rampage on George Street, Port of Spain, the usually rollicking street was eerily quiet.

The normal crowds on the corner of George and Queen Street, waiting on North Coast Road maxis to take them to the beach, were absent and the bars and food places were closed.

There was no music playing and no one was outside socialising as residents remained locked in their homes.

Residents said Tuesday’s shooting incident which left one woman, Lystra Rodriguez, dead, and several others wounded was frightening.

They said they were now living in fear and their only hope for peace is Police Commissioner Gary Griffith.

They also want the support of all sectors and stakeholders to help Griffith and the police in the fight against crime.

“We need everyone on board with Gary,” said one resident, “Because what is happening is madness.”

“We have to stop playing games.

“The Law Association and them saying the right thing when they say ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ but a country with 1.3 million people should never be having a crime rate every year at over 500.

“We need to get on board with Gary or we just spinning top in mud.”

Residents said despite Griffith’s efforts, murders are getting worse. They knocked the association and Judiciary for not giving the full effect to the Bail (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to deny bail to people on weapon charges.

They said the elites in leadership positions were disconnected to the problems on the ground and people needed to put more faith in the commissioner and support him.

“Nelson Street and George Street never used to have drive-bys,” said another resident, “Then it started to happen in the night. But you see what happened Tuesday, at that hour, they had to come through traffic to do that. I would have never taken God out of my thoughts to believe there would be a drive-by in the day in town.”

“The criminals don’t care about what laws government put in place. All they care about is how to get to their enemies. The only way to solve that is the Bail (Amendment) Bill. Don’t give these criminals no bail. At least if we could get them off the streets for a small amount of time, then that is a start,” the resident added.

“These ministers reading budget for billions of dollars and using all kind of university talk and big words, but at the end of the day, they are not coming on the ground and finding out what is needed here. They are disconnected and it is because they are safe. Crime is not reaching them. So they would talk as though they care, but they really don’t.”

The residents commended the police for their quick work on New Year’s Eve. One resident said the police reacted quickly, partly because they were in position near two shops on lower George Street.

At about 3.50 pm, the gunmen pulled up alongside a maxi at the Blanchisseusse taxi stand on George and Queen Streets in a black Nissan Tiida and opened fire, killing Rodriguez, wounding two others in the maxi and six passers-by.

Police came across the shooters on Duncan Street and ordered them to pull over, but were shot at. The gunmen reversed their car and sped off in the direction of the Central Market where they ran into another contingent of officers.

While trying to escape, the men crashed the car into a culvert.

They then got out of the car and shot at police who returned fire, killing two of them.

A third man who was shot in the first exchange of gunfire also died, while a fourth escaped.

Police are still on the hunt for that man as well as others who were captured on CCTV with the dead gunmen.

Two of the dead shooters were identified as Richard Thomas and Joel Roberts. Both were 29 and from Sea Lots.

Up to press time the third man had not been identified.

Police assured that all security measures were in place to protect the people of Port of Spain.