2 dead, 2 wounded, 3 held after PoS shootout

Two men are dead and a woman was wounded after gunmen started shooting at people walking along Queen Street in downtown Port of Spain on Wednesday afternoon.

Three men from Picton Road, Laventille, were held after a shootout with police.

Police said the men shot at the people before running to a white Nissan Tiida car, which drove off.

Two men, identified only as Toes and Aaron, were shot. Toes was hit three times in the head and died at the scene. Aaron was shot several times in the upper body and died at the Port of Spain General Hospital.

Shakira Moona was hit in the leg and arm and a man identified only as Max was shot in the stomach.

Police alerted other officers in the area. Members of the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) were on a static patrol near the Excel Secondary School, Beetham, when they saw the Tiida.

They blocked the car, but gunmen shot at them with an assault rifle, shooting out the back window of the police car.

Police returned fire, but the gunmen got out of the car and ran off, dropping a pistol.

No one was wounded in this shootout.

Police called for backup from Besson Street police, the IATF and the Guard and Emergency Branch, who searched Beetham and Picton for the men.

Within minutes, three men matching the description of the shooters were held in Picton Road, Laventille.

The assault rifle was not seized.

Police set up road blocks along the Eastern Main Road on the outskirts of Port of Spain, slowing traffic to a crawl as investigators collected evidence.