Business as usual hours after bloodshed outside Tunapuna market

Judging from the hustle and bustle among vendors and shoppers on Thursday, one would never have guessed that only hours earlier, the Tunapuna market was a major crime scene where two men were gunned down and three other people wounded.

People mingled with vendors as fruits and vegetables were weighed and then sold. There was no tell-tale sign of the mayhem reflected in videos posted to social media moments after the shooting, which showed bodies on the ground outside the market and police officers frantically putting the wounded into marked police SUVs to be taken to hospital.

The videos showed a man clad in a white vest which was stained with blood. He lay motionless. Nearby, another man lay on his stomach bleeding from gunshot wounds. A woman who was also shot is seen trying to get up, while a voice is heard in the video telling her to try and keep still.

Police sources later said the murdered men were identified as Mikheal Voison, 23, who was a vendor and father of one, and Aaron Leander, a labourer who worked at the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation. He too was also a vendor at the market.

The injured three are Christine Hosein, 22, Alex Alexander, 33, and Nathaniel Gajadhar, 22.

Police said around 8.30 pm on Wednesday, a group of five people was liming on the outskirts of the market when a car pulled up on the main road and a gunman got out and started shooting at the limers. He then got back into the car, which drove off.

Newsday spoke to a relative of Voison at the Forensic Centre on Thursday morning, who did not wish to be identified. The weeping woman described Voison as loving and always able to put a smile on everyone's face. She said her thoughts are now with his daughter, who will be one soon.

“The last time I spoke to him was on New Year's Day, when I called and told him I loved him.”

When asked about crime, the relative said only God can save Trinidad and Tobago. The interview ended as she began to weep and was led away.

When Newsday visited the corporation later in the day, its chairman Josiah Austin said Leander, 22, had worked at the corporation for the past five years. Austin said Leander was a quiet and hard-working person. He described the shooting as a very unfortunate incident.

"The Tunapuna municipal police were first on the scene; they have been working with the TTPS towards assisting and alleviating issues people are faced with daily," Austin said.

He said his office had tried unsuccessfully to contact Leander’s family to offer its support.

Asked about claims that the deadly shooting was linked to a card gambling game, wappie, Austin said he preferred not to talk about a case that is still being actively investigated by the police. He said no type of gambling is condoned by his office and the corporation.

He spoke confidently about the joint security initiatives between the Tunapuna Chamber of Commerce and the corporation. “There are security cameras in the market and they are working.”

"A public safety committee has been formed and a president appointed. There are subcommittees also formed and we have been having meetings with stakeholders. The corporation is doing its work.”

He said when he became aware of the shooting, he visited the market the same night.

He ended the interview by saying the Tunapuna market is safe and the public should not be put off by the shooting incident.

The market was a hive of activity on Thursday.

President of the Tunapuna Market Association Sterling Goodridge said when he received reports of card-playing and gambling in the market, during the Christmas period, he spoke to all those involved. He stressed, however, that no serious crimes had taken place at the market, which was closed when the fatal shooting took place.

Because the market is centrally located between the main road and the bus route, Goodridge said it gets named whenever some crime takes place in Tunapuna. He is worried about the effect the negative publicity can have on vendors who operate in the market.

Vendor Nirod Phagoo said apart from some petty crimes such as pickpocketing, the market is generally a safe place to conduct business. He said a mobile police unit could be set up near the market to deter would-be criminals.

Another vendor, who gave her name only as Pauline, said that "really and truly" no place in Trinidad and Tobago is absolutely safe anymore. She said crime has become commonplace.