'Envious' people gunned down Fyzabad man

For the past few years, 31-year-old Emmanuel "Mano" Mc Meo had been receiving death threats and was always on the alert for any potential killers.

On Wednesday, shortly before 11 pm, two masked men ambushed, shot and killed him in front his home at Renzo Settlement Trace off Sewlal Trace in Fyzabad.

The father of three worked as a mason and operated a parlour a short distance away at Sewlal Trace.

He and his wife Wendy were returning home from selling at the parlour. The gunmen accosted them while walking in a track towards their home.

The gunmen each pointed guns at the couple and the two ran in different directions.

The men chased Mc Meo and shot him several times in the chest and abdomen. He died on the spot. His wife was not wounded.

Speaking with Newsday at the family’s home on Thursday, Mc Meo’s sister Sade Joseph said he got many death threats.

"He was hearing talk from people in the area. My brother did not know why anyone wanted to kill him because he worked so hard for what he wanted," Joseph said.

"He said they envied him. I don’t think my brother ever officially reported it to the police."

Joseph considered her brother hardworking and ambitious. She said he deeply cared for his family.

"He worked hard to see about his family. His last child will be four years on Tuesday. His other children are 12 and eight."

A male relative also told Newsday that Mc Meo was aware that people wanted him dead for the past five years.

About three years ago, gunmen ambushed and opened fire towards him at the back of the home. That time, he managed to run away and no one was harmed.

Up to late Thursday, no arrests had been made.

Police from the South Western Division and the Homicide Bureau Region Three are investigating.