Police: Dead teens accidental victims of Laventille gang rivalry

File photo.
File photo.

Investigators believe Antoine Francis and Simeon Daniel were not the intended targets of a shooting on Sunday night, and that the shooting was linked to an ongoing gang rivalry in Laventille.

Francis, 16, and Daniel, 15, were among five teenagers who escaped from a Children’s Authority safe house in north Trinidad last week.

They were found dead on the rooftop of an abandoned house in Mc Shine Lands Laventille, after neighbours reported hearing several gunshots around 7 pm, Sunday.

Police said the boys were liming with a group when two men dressed in police uniforms fired at them.

In a release sent to the media on Monday, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Donald Jacob said gang rivalry was the motive behind the killings.

He said Homicide Bureau officers have intensified their investigations, have received vital information and the probe is now at a sensitive stage.

Newsday spoke to relatives of the boy at the Forensic Sciences Centre on Monday morning.

The relatives said the boys were expected to leave the safe house soon and they never complained of abuse from Children Authority officials, contrary to rumours of abuse or mistreatment circulating on social media.

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