Off-duty cop kills cutlass attacker in Crown Point

A Bon Accord man was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer outside a popular bar in Tobago on Sunday night.

Dead is Keron Sealey, 32, aka Myrex, of Teak Avenue, Milford Court.

Police said shortly after 10pm, Sealey confronted Kenelle Alleyne, of Hope village, outside the Jade Monkey Casino Bar & Grill on Milford Road, Crown Point. He began chopping Alleyne with a cutlass.

The two had reportedly had a fight earlier that night.

Reports are that an off-duty officer, who was standing a short distance away, saw Sealey chopping Alleyne. He walked up to Sealey and warned him.

But Sealey persisted in chopping Alleyne, who tried to run away.

Police said the officer, who is assigned to the Tobago Divisional Task Force, took out his gun and shot Sealey.

Sealey and Alleyne were taken to the Scarborough General Hospital. Sealey was pronounced dead on arrival.

As well as being chopped, Alleyne suffered a fractured leg.

A bystander who was injured when the shot was fired, is also being treated at hospital.

Supt Powder is investigating.

Snr Supt, Tobago Division, Sterling Roberts urged citizens to be wary of public confrontations.

“We want them to be mindful of how altercations could end up. You just have to be patient.”Roberts lamented the upsurge in violence on the island but said the police were addressing the matter. He revealed they found two pistols and an AR15 rifle over the weekend.

Roberts did not want to comment further, saying the investigation was at a sensitive stage.

Sealey’s killing came less than a week after a shooting incident in Concordia left two men dead and one wounded. Investigations into that incident are ongoing.

Tobago has recorded seven murders for the year so far.

Commenting on the Crown Point shooting, Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association vice-president Carol-Ann Birchwood James called for an increased police presence in the area, widely regarded as the island’s entertainment capital.

She said such incidents could negatively affect the island’s domestic tourism push.

“Our local tourism is the only thing we have now for the forseeable future, because of the impact of covid19, and we have got to protect it.”

Commenting on the incident, she said, “Normally, there is always a police presence but sometimes you do have incidents. But Crown Point is usually a very safe place because of the police presence,

“So I guess they will have to be even more vigilant and make sure that the businesses close at 10 o’clock.

"We need the visitors and we do not want anybody to go and spoil our Crown Point area. A lot of our visitors go there. That is our little tourism hub for our restaurants, bars and casinos. So we have to try not to spoil that hub that we have there.”