Unidentified man killed in St Joseph

An unidentified man is the third person to be killed since Sunday in incidents outside the Carnival celebrations. The man was shot dead in Maracas, St Joseph on Monday night.

According to police at about 8.20 pm on Monday night, they got a report of a shooting on Maracas Royal Road. When they responded, they came across a Mazda Familia van which had apparently crashed into a Hyundai H100 panel van.

They continued making checks along San Gregoire Road, where they found the man dead.

He was described as a man of mixed descent with a dark brown complexion, five feet, eight inches in height, with a low haircut. He wore a black jersey with a red short pants. Police officers saw apparent gunshot wounds to his head.

The man who drove the Hyundai went to police officers at the Maracas, St Joseph Police Station where he was interviewed.

During a walkabout in Port of Spain, Minister of National Security Stuart Young said the murders were not connected to Carnival celebrations, but pointed out that at least one of them – the one in Maracas, St Joseph – could be gang related.

“We are connecting the dots,” Young said.

Griffith once again said police are doing everything they could to stem the tide of murders, but they could only do so much. Griffith said the police were able to arrest more than 1,400 people with illegal firearms but they have all been able to get out on bail.

“We have data on 800 shooters. If they stay where they belong, which is away from freedom, it would mean that we could cut homicides in half. So don’t blame the police. Do not blame anyone else but the individuals who continue to orchestrate their agenda to ensure that criminals with firearms kill, and they would be able to come out of jail, because we did not see when they killed.

We can do up until the arrest and the charge. If people see it fit to let them out to finish their jobs then that is not our fault. We are doing all we can,” Griffith said.

In other reports, on Sunday at about 3.50 pm, Nicole Hackshaw, of Kiskadee Drive, Trincity, was bludgeoned to death with a piece of wood. A Guyanese man who was found on the scene, covered in blood, was arrested and is assisting police with investigations.

Earlier that day, Joanna Hood was shot dead, when, at about 8.20 am, gunmen entered her St Albans Road, Valencia, home and shot her twice in her back before escaping.

The bodies of all three victims are expected to be taken to the Forensic Science Centre in St James where autopsies will be done.