Cops: Port of Spain mayor was not target

ACTING Commissioner of Police Erla Christopher says Port of Spain mayor Joel Martinez was not the target in the shooting incident on Thursday at his home.

Christopher, in a press release on Friday evening, said this was established in preliminary investigations into the incident.

The top cop said officers responded in a very timely manner to the report of the shooting, and took the shooting victim to the Port of Spain General Hospital for treatment. The man is in stable condition.

“Our CSI (crime scene investigations) personnel have been at the scene, and investigators on the ground have gathered evidence and conducted enquiries, which resulted in the development of certain credible leads into the matter,” Christopher said.

“The investigation is still in the early and critical stages and as the matter progresses and we build upon our leads, more information will be shared with members of the public.”

At around 2.30 pm on Thursday, a 33-year-old landscaper was cutting grass at Martinez' s Haleland Park, Maraval home when he was approached by a man who shot him.

The victim jumped over an adjacent walls into other properties before collapsing inside a nearby house. Officers of the Maraval Police Station responded and took the bleeding man to hospital.