Gunmen kill 1, injure 5 in Arima; 1 dead in D/Martin shootout with cops – BULLETS LIKE RAIN

TWO COMMUNITIES in north Trinidad were rocked by heavy gunfire on Monday – the same day that Caricom leaders, including TT's Prime Minister, sat down and discussed the regional scourge of crime and lawlessness.

In one case, a woman was shot dead and five others, including children, left wounded and bleeding from multiple gunshots after gunmen raided a birthday party in Temple Street, Arima, in east Trinidad.

In the other case, police who were on their way to execute a warrant allegedly came under heavy gunfire, causing them to return fire and kill one man in La Puerta, Diego Martin, in west Trinidad.

At St Rose Street off Temple Street, Arima, it was reported that at least four gunmen invaded a house and shot dead 41-year-old hairdresser Candace Griffith. Residents from neighbouring communities described the loud barrage of gunshots as similar to what one would hear in a war zone.

The shooting also left five others injured, including two youths aged 15 and 16, and a 41-year-old woman who was shot in the head and up to Tuesday was warded in critical condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope.

Police said that at about 10.30 pm, gunmen stood on plastic buckets and old chairs to reach the top of the perimeter wall of the house, pointed their weapons and started shooting at the people who were liming at the birthday party, before running off.

Police found 18 spent shells of nine-millimetre calibre, with one of them bearing the markings TTR (Trinidad and Tobago Regiment); five 7.62 spent shells; two projectiles; and seven metal fragments.

Residents said there were gunmen at the front gate of the house waiting to gun down anyone who came running out.

On Tuesday, hours after the shooting, Griffith’s boyfriend Dharmendra Sookram recalled looking on in horror as the gunmen began indiscriminately shooting at guests at the Hawaiian-themed party. He said he heard some rustling and went to a perimeter wall to investigate, when the killers began shooting.

“When the shooting stopped, I called out she name, 'Candace, Candace' but I ain’t hear no response. When I walked out, I see my wife on the ground. I picked her up and feel by she neck (for a pulse) and that was it,” Sookram said.

The first of Griffith’s two sons, Malachi Marcelle, said his mother was a caring woman who was overprotective of him and his younger brother. The last time he saw her was a month ago, since because of his working hours, he stays at an aunt's home. Despite this, Marcelle said he regularly spoke with his mother on the phone.

“The last conversation I had with her, I asked her if she wanted to start a business, because I like to cook. That was just in the back of my mind.”

Her cousin Khadija Griffith described their relationship as that of sisters. She said Griffith was a well-mannered and well-spoken woman who was liked by all, with the news of her murder leaving many who knew her in a state of shock.

“Nobody deserves to die like that,” Griffith said, describing the killing as “tragic and very unfortunate.”

Monday night was the first time Griffith had ever visited the house where she eventually lost her life. She lived at Nelson Street in Arima, a two-minute drive from where the incident happened. She was visiting the home of Sookram’s aunt Marilyn Layne, 69, the daughter of Lily Layne, who was murdered in 2007.

Asked why someone would target the family like that, Sookram said it was a case of jealousy. He vehemently denied that the family was linked to crime.

“What gang you talking about? Is jealousy. If we had gang, them could ever come and do this? We would have had men watching, if it is we were in a gang.

"We don’t be on people. People could say what they want, police could say what they want, it just jealousy and greed,” Sookram said.

Marilyn Layne, who was grazed on the chin by a bullet, told Newsday the incident on Monday was not the first time gunmen had used a celebration by the family to attack them.

She recalled the murders of her sons-in-law Dominic Houllier, who was killed in 2019, and Junior Cuddling, who was gunned down two years later.

Houllier was killed on May 9, 2019 when he and his wife Desiree Layne-Houllier went to evict tenants from an apartment at Temple Street. He was shot multiple times and his wife was shot once in the arm, once in the leg and twice in the chest. She survived.

Cuddling, originally from Jamaica, was found dead with gunshot wounds at Temple Street on August 28, 2021.

Marilyn's son was also shot while leaving the Shops of Arima mall last month.

In that incident, gunmen got out of a white Nissan Tiida and riddled Layne's son's SUV while he was driving home. Layne said her son drew the gunmen's attention away from his wife and children by running out of the SUV, thus sparing their lives.

Asked about the constant attacks on her family, Layne said it was a case of envy.

“Here in Temple Street was real, real nice. (But) every time we keep a party or something, they want to shoot up the place,” Layne said.

She recalled the incident on Monday and having to run and hide when the shooting started. Even as she ducked for cover, Layne said she felt a burning on her chin as the bullet grazed her. She said she could only look on helplessly as she saw people running for safety.

During the interview on Tuesday, three men were busy scrubbing away pools of dried blood from the yard. Layne sat near a concrete pillar which was damaged by multiple bullets. Layne appeared to be in a daze as she spoke.

On a nearby table was an uncut two-tier birthday cake. On the opposite side was a bucket of chicken-foot souse. Layne showed containers of curry left uneaten because of the shooting. Pieces of chicken which were supposed to be barbecued were eventually given away, she said.

Asked about moving out of the area in an attempt to escape the gun violence, Layne said if it came to that, she had better leave the country, since nowhere in Trinidad was really safe.

Both she and Sookram spoke of the family receiving death threats before the shooting on Monday night.

Officers from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations arrived and Layne had to cut short the interview to go and speak with them. The officers also walked about the property, apparently searching for clues.

BULLETS IN DIEGO

Residents of La Puerta, Diego Martin took to social media to vent their anger over the shooting on Monday afternoon. They complained of the unnecessary number of gunshots by police.

The social media posts also claimed police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at residents after Josiah "Mute" Soleyn was killed.

Police reported that between 4pm and 7pm on Monday there was an intelligence-driven exercise in the Western Division by members of the Western Division Gang Unit, the Multi-Option Police Section (MOPS) and the National Operations Task Force as part of "Operation Sand Castle.”

At about 4.20 pm, the officers went to Upper La Puerta Avenue with a warrant to be executed on an unnamed person when they were told there was a man in the area brandishing a gun.

Police said Soleyn was in a suspect's house and when they entered he shot at them. They returned fire, hitting Soleyn in the chest. He died at the scene. Police claimed they found one Ruger pistol.

Both shooting incidents are under investigations.