Man shot in Laventille as police probe Westmoorings robbery

Police following up on a home invasion at a house in Westmoorings shot a man in Laventille after a reported shootout on Wednesday night.

Police said officers of the Port of Spain Gang Intelligence Unit (GIU) went to an unnamed road off Dan Kelly Road, at around 10.22 pm to question several people in the area.

Police claim they were shot at by people in a car. Officers returned fire hitting one man in his back.

Police intercepted the car nearby and took the wounded man to the hospital where he was listed as being in stable condition.

Two men and a woman were arrested.

Police said they are expected to be charged for shooting offences in the area. They said a pistol was found in the car and seized.

Newsday visited the area where the shooting happened on Thursday morning and spoke with one man who disagreed with the official account given by the police, claiming the officers were not shot at.

"All they did in the car was slow down and the officers shot at them.

"They also didn't identify themselves as police.

"Those men wearing plain clothes with a bulletproof vest with the word Police on the front, that could be anyone."

Police said the robbery the officers were investigating happened at around 11.05 am at Regents Drive West. They said men in a brown Nissan Tiida drove up to the security booth of the compound and told the security guard they wanted to deliver flowers to a home in the community.

The owner of the house was not at home at the time, but the caretaker gave the security permission to allow the men to drive into the community.

The caretaker opened the main gate for the men who stormed the house and tied her up.

The bandits only managed to steal one of the two safes at the house which contained TT $10,000, US $3,000 and Canadian $1,000 before driving off.

The caretaker eventually freed herself before calling the police.

Western Division Task Force officers visited the scene. Sources said the caretaker was taken to the West End police station.