Relative of murdered Malick soldier: My children don't even come outside

Relatives of Malick murder victim Peter Thomas are lamenting the frequency of crime and violence in the country.

Thomas, 52, was a soldier who re-enlisted as a reserve officer after retiring.

He was shot near his parlour in Upper Basement Road, Malick, on Saturday night. He was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, where he died on Tuesday night.

Speaking with Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Friday, one of Thomas's relatives said she suspected he was killed because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time

"It's devastating, because I grew up there with him, and now I have children in the area too.

"My children go nowhere, they don't even come outside...my children went to school right there where the shooting happened."

The relative said even though Thomas was a soldier they never expected him to be murdered on the job, much less after he retired.

Police from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region II are continuing enquiries.