Police kill man at La Horquetta murder scene, cop wounded

It was "the worst Christmas ever" for one La Horquetta community as a shooting incident which claimed the life of a 20-year-old man, on his birthday, evolved into a police-involved shooting, leaving one La Horquetta resident dead and a policewoman wounded.

The murder victim, Isiah Commissiong from Phase 4, La Horquetta, was playing football with other residents at the La Horquetta recreational ground in Phase 6, at about 1 pm, when a man approached and shot him dead before escaping.

When police arrived, they met a large crowd around the body.

Officers said they tried to disperse the crowd and cordon off the scene, but the people became unruly and an altercation broke out.

It was during that altercation, police said, that 49-year-old Garrick Thomas St Clair, of Phase 4 La Horquetta, allegedly burst the leg holster of one of the policemen and grabbed his gun. It is alleged that he shot in the direction of acting Cpl Cudjoe-Joseph, hitting her in the stomach.

Police officers shot him.

Both St Clair and the policewoman were taken to the Arima hospital. St Clair was declared dead at about 2.37 pm.

Relatives at the scene said Commissiong was not involved in any gang activity.

“He wasn’t on them thing, that’s what hurts the most,” said one relative. “If he was involved in those kind of things, then I would not have minded.”

His mother Karen Alberado said he was a construction worker. He was celebrating his birthday on Christmas Day.

“Everyone knew him and liked him. He was respectable,” she said. “Now all my holidays done for a while. Right now, I am just giving all praises to God. This is what I am doing so that I would not break down.”

Newsday visited Thomas’ home at Phase 4, but relatives were too distraught to speak to the media.

As relatives arrived at Thomas’ home to console each other, one cried out, “This is the worst Christmas ever.”

Neighbours described Thomas as a “sweetbread” in the community, who would help with construction and other odd jobs around the area.

Police said Cudjoe-Joseph was transferred and was in a stable condition up to late Sunday.

In an unrelated incident, Marcus Alexander, 22, was shot dead on Saturday.

Police said Alexander was walking along Green Street, Tunapuna when a man shot him in the head.

The murder toll for the year now stands at 594.