Men shot dead by cops identified

THE two men killed by police moments after being involved in criminal activities over the Easter weekend have been identified.

Police said the man shot dead after a home invasion in Aranjuez was identified as Rakel Rahim Mason.

Mason of Kerr Street, Eastern Quarry, Port of Spain was identified by police on Monday.

Police said Mason and five other men robbed and beat six members of a family at their home in Aranjuez on Sunday night. Police reported that at about 8.15 pm, officers assigned to the North Eastern Division Task Force responded to a report of a home invasion along Ramlal Trace.

On arrival, police confronted Mason who shot at them and they returned fire, fatally injuring him.

Mason's accomplices were later arrested and some of the stolen items, along with a Smith and Wesson pistol and three rounds of 9mm ammunition were recovered.

In the second incident, a man who was killed moments after the murder of businessman Nicholas Zhu during a robbery at his San Juan grocery on Good Friday, was identified as Tobagonian Kishonte Reid.

Reid was originally from Pembroke, police said.

Police said Zhu, the owner of Golden City Supermarket, was attacked just after closing hours. A one-minute CCTV video, which was shared on social media on Saturday, showed Zhu walking from his van after retrieving an envelope.

A short while after exiting the frame, three masked men were seen fleeing after the sound of multiple gunshots. Zhu was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope Hospital where he died.

After Zhu's shooting, police responded and confronted Reid who was killed during an ensuing shootout.

Police said both men were known to them to be involved in criminal activities.